8 March 2002
Programme Director,
Minister of Sport and Recreation, Ngconde Balfour,
Members of Parliament and of the National Council of Provinces,
MECs responsible for sport and recreation in the provinces, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation
President of the National Olympic Committee of South Africa,
Chief Executive Officer of the South African Sports Commission,
Presidents and Office-bearers of National Sports Federations,
Distinguished Guests
Award Winners and Sportspersons:
The past year has brought to the fore many excellent sports men and women who through sporting achievements have made us proud to be South Africans. Indeed these sporting heroes have helped to instil in all of us a growing national identity of who we are and a new national consciousness of the great potential that exists within all South Africans to perform even greater tasks in the future.
We meet here tonight to honour these great sports people and to celebrate with them on this joyous occasion.
I think it would be true to say that these awards should not be seen simply as acknowledgements for past greatness, the performance of yesteryear, but also, and more fundamentally, as an investment in our people for years to come and for the sustained development of sports and society in South Africa.
These awards must be seen as part of that fundamental national effort that we have undertaken as South Africans, and that is to push back the frontiers of poverty and to lend a hand to build a better life for our children, our youth, indeed for all the people of our land, especially all those who still reside in areas of underdevelopment and deprived of the benefits owing to all South Africans.
It is with this in mind that we must measure our success even on the playing fields. We must see the transformation of sports and recreation not simply as finding the ways and means to improve the physical performance of all our athletes but rather as enthusing all our sports people to lend a hand to build a better life.
We are asking for a new mental attitude, a new outlook for our new country, a linking of hands and minds to break the barriers that still divide us.
We are calling for renewed efforts to improve our playing fields, to train those less privileged than ourselves, to share our well-equipped sports facilities and indeed to build new ones where none exists.
Clearly, sports has always been an arena that is largely dependent on the service of volunteers. We know also that many of you make your contribution to sport and recreation purely out of your love for it and not for any reward. We thank you for your loyal service. For those officials who have excelled in their service to sport internationally, you have also done our country proud. Needless to say, this is a solid starting point.
But I believe that we can do more to bring everyone on board in this united effort for change, to answer the call to lend a hand for a better life.
Sport is an important medium that, if pursued in the spirit in which it is intended, has the capacity for instilling in our youth, the morals and values that we would like to see in all aspects of their lives. The institution has an important role to play in the moral regeneration process that we are embarking upon.
Our outstanding sports people, especially the ones we are honouring here tonight, have a special responsibility in this process. Your importance as heroes and role models who are seen to be setting examples and standards, cannot be over-emphasized. Part of your responsibility must be to make of your peers and of our youth model citizens who will enable us to realize our true potential.
I would like to see sustained efforts to involve more and more young people in activities that will contribute to rebuilding our society and I would like our sports people to play a vanguard role in this regard.
If sports and recreation plays it part in our national effort to raise the levels of physical well-being of the nation, increase levels of HIV/AIDS awareness, seek to lower levels of unemployment, contribute toward the eradication of racism, sexism, and corruption, resuscitate the culture of learning and combat the scourge of crime, amongst others, we will have succeeded in creating a better future.
During the liberation struggle Sport played a significant role, and tonight we are honouring some of the heroes of that struggle.
But now the time has come for us to harness Sport again in this new phase of our struggle, aimed at building the ideal society that we all envisage.
As we strive to transform this country, I would like to present sports bodies with the challenge of ensuring that the demographic profile of award winners reflects the country's population in the shortest time possible.
There is an abundance of talent through the length and breadth of this country, in our villages, in our cities, to be unearthed and developed. I often think about how much more successful we can be as a nation in the international sporting arenas if we were able to draw our athletes from 100% of our population, rather than from just 20% or 30%. A bigger resource pool must surely mean a more united South African front, keener competition and, therefore, higher levels of performance. I am aware that several national federations have signed performance agreements on representivity in their teams with Minister Balfour. I am keen to find out whether they have lived up to those contracts and, indeed, what new targets they have set for themselves in the year ahead.
I am also aware of the existence of the Ministerial Task Team that has investigated high performance sport in our country and look forward to receiving an insight into their findings and, indeed, seeing whether the implementation of their recommendations will have the desired effect. We must do everything within our means to give our sports people the support they need and deserve to make them world competitors.
As we honour you, our sports heroes, I am aware of the tremendous sacrifice and investment that is required to participate at the levels that you have and the number of games in whichyou participate in a given year.
In fact, the city of Cape Town is playing host at present to a myriad of sports activities that has included, amongst others, an international track and field athletics event, Super 12 rugby, the cricket test and the Cycle Tour. This is surely a feast of sports activities catering for a range of sports enthusiasts in a concentrated space of time.
To all the award winners I would like to extend my sincerest congratulations. The nation is proud of you and stands squarely behind you in your efforts to bring even greater glory to our country.
Keep up your excellent work and continue to set an example for our young people that will contribute in making us a winning nation.
To the administrators, officials and coaches, we know how thankless your tasks are at times and we appreciate your hard work.
To the recipients of lifetime sports achievers awards, I can only apologize for the delay in acknowledging your outstanding contributions to sport and recreation. Those of you who were denied the opportunity of representing your country on the field of play, the nation is poorer for that injustice. I trust that the acknowledgement that you will receive this evening will in some small way compensate for that.
To all the winners here tonight and all the finalists who have come so far, in this spirit of Vuk' uzenzele, let us build a united partnership to ensure that we attain our transformation goals and encourage others also to lend a hand for a better life.
I thank you.