Thank you, Chair, Minister, Deputy Minister, MECs, hon members, leaders of various federations present here today, ladies and gentlemen, I think I should start by congratulating Jomo Cosmos on regaining the status of the Premier Soccer League, PSL. [Laughter.] I should also congratulate Moroka Swallows for avoiding relegation. These teams are all from Gauteng, the home of champions. I also congratulate Sundowns, SuperSport, Kaizer Chiefs, Wits and Orlando Pirates on qualifying for the Top Eight. Indeed, I must congratulate Orlando Pirates on retaining the championship in Gauteng. [Applause.]
I think it is also important to congratulate Minister Mbalula for having elevated our work in the sport and recreation sector. The presentation of the budget policy statement today is yet further testament to the seriousness with which we take the work that we do.
Hon Minister and Deputy Minister, I'm sure that all of us will agree that the challenges we face are indeed enormous. At the same time, we should all bear in mind that these challenges are not insurmountable. We've already started walking on the path to change for the better. We have the leadership and the passion to drive our vision.
Today's presentation takes place against the backdrop of preparations for the Gauteng sports indaba to be held this weekend. We've made good progress in consolidating our work as part of our movement forward. We've taken the view that part of how we are going to succeed in attaining our vision is to ensure that we establish a movement of agents for change in sport. Such a movement must be characterised by the constitution of sport structures that work on -and whose interest is nothing but - the development of sport.
Accordingly, we've now concluded the process of constituting the Gauteng Sports Council and this has been done at both regional and provincial levels. The regions have already convened their izindaba as part of preparing for both provincial and national izindaba.
In the course of the year we will pass a number of policy instruments as part of ensuring that we set targets and define roles for each of our stakeholders in regard to how we execute our plans.
The provincial sport indaba will receive the draft sport policy and plan, the draft strategy on school sports and the report on the outcomes from the regional izindaba. These will form the basis of a conversation that we will have and out of which we must emerge with concrete plans.
Part of the conversation will be focusing attention on the issue of sport infrastructure. We have already begun discussing approaches in the context of the roles of the different spheres of government in this regard. It is our firm belief that this will place us in better position in terms of ensuring easy access to facilities.
We have mooted the idea of establishing a sporting village that will focus on the totality of the development of athletes. This is in line with our decision to prioritise a minimum of seven priority codes in the province. This will enable us to focus and continue to produce champions and make good use of the scarce resources at our disposal.
Let me end by saying that through, the indaba, we are hopeful that we will also learn from international best practice from countries that will be present at our indaba. Chairperson, thank you for this opportunity. [Applause.]