8 April 2003
Madam Speaker
Honourable Members
The ANC Supports the Budget Vote
The State President hosted on Friday the 4th of April 2003 another Presidential Sports Achievement Awards ceremony. We pay tribute to the sports heroes and all South African Sports personalities like,
Some of these recipients are ordinary South African whose contribution in sport were not motivated by any financial gains but the love of their country and the love of sports. Some are already dead yet their contribution in sport will live long.
We congratulate the award winners on their achievements and thank the sports federations who nominated them for without some of these sports heroes would have gone unnoticed.
We acknowledge the role played by the international sports bodies in bringing apartheid to an end.
We also salute the worthy contributions of the former NON-RACIAL SPORTS BODIES LIKE SANROC, NSC and others at ensuring the isolation of apartheid sport as well as their contribution in the destruction of apartheid.
We pay tribute to countless sport administrators and players who played a pioneering role in building non-racial unity in sport while the apartheid propagated racist policies in sport.
Madam Speaker
Today we want to acknowledge the sentiments expressed by the South African public to the effect that South African Sport is dying.
We understand this feeling, which is mostly based on the poor performance of our teams and athletes particularly on international competitions. This is a matter that needs South Africa to work on and improve our performance.
We also want to highlight that there is also a positive side, South Africa has achieved a lot in sport since 1994.
Madam Speaker
The tide has turned and a lot has been achieved since 1994.
The vision of the South African Sports Commission is to lead South Africa to world-class sporting excellence. In pursuance of this vision the Sports Commission seeks to create a nation of world-class sportsmen and women by improving opportunities for all South Africans to participate in sport and recreation. The sports commission has a responsibility of ensuring that the management promotion and co-ordination of our sport is administered with excellence.
In mass participation the Sports Commission is reviving and promoting indigenous Games in South Africa and beyond.
Within this year's budget, the sports commission will publish a manual on Indigenous Games that addresses the standardized indigenous games and one of the Indigenous Games, Ncuva, is being computerized. 230 Indigenous Games facilitators have been trained in all nine provinces. These facilitators will provide further training in the provinces.
This is a clear indication that we are on the right course in the area of skills development and promotion of excellence in sport and recreation.
South Africa is making progress in establishing a network on Indigenous Games with Zone VI countries and beyond and will host an Indigenous Games festival between the 4th and the 6th of September 2003. South Africa will also participate in the TAFISA traditional games in Montreal in Canada in July 2003.
We commend the Sports Commission for taking up the challenge of promoting Indigenous Games, which was sharply raised by President Mbeki in his 2001 State of the Nation Address.
The sports commission with regards to Recreation has also made a steady progress.
A National Walk will be held in August 2003. Aerobics instructors who will run aerobic classes for the communities have been trained in three provinces (NW, EC and Gauteng)
Progress has also been made in facilitating the participation of the previously disadvantaged in the World Gymnaestrada that will take place in Portugal between the 20th 26th July 2003.
In making certain that South Africa participates in international and major national events, the Sports Commission has a programme of identifying talented athletes in order to ensure that South African teams are fully representative. It also provides access to scientific support, training, life skills development services as well as ensuring a supportive social environment in order to increase the number of medals and test matches won by South Africa.
This year the focus of South Africa is the All Africa Games
The Sports Commission has already enlisted 16 accredited service provider institutions in sports science as part of the campaign for the AAG.
250 athletes have benefited from this programme. Sports science centers in rural areas like those in Fort Hare and Limpopo have very basic equipment and there is therefore a need for improving centers in the rural areas.
On High Performance sport there is restructuring of services and financial allocation to elite athletes.
Services rendered by service providers to athletes and National Federations are monitored.
The Sports Commission has also established a life skills infrastructure to address the general welfare of S.A. elite athletes and their support teams. Facilitators trained by the Sports Commission will implement this project in the Provincial Academies of Sports. The modules for this project will be developed by the Sports Commission and will amongst other cover: financial skills, HIV/AIDS, touring skills, legal contracts and conflict resolution.
A multi-coded athletes association will be established by April 2004.
SASSU is assisted with the scientific preparation of athletes who will be competing in the World Student Games in Korea, August 2003
The Minister for Sport and Recreation South Africa, Hon. Ngconde Balfour is spearheading the establishment of a National Sports Academy.
Provincial Sports Academies have been allocated R1mln each. 8 of the 9 academies have been appointed Academy Managers.
Academy of Sport Blue Print has been finalized. The blue print stipulates how academies should be run. Only 15% of the allocated R1mln can be used for administration and 85% should be committed to programmes on the ground.
Provincial departments of Sport and Recreation must play a leading role in ensuring that the academies are given the necessary support and adequately resourced.
Satellite Academies and mobile centers should be established in all regions especially rural areas. All children that compete must have gone through the academies.
We have made our mark in bidding for hosting Olympic Games, the Soccer World Cup 2006.
We are bidding again for hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup. We urge all South Africans to support our 2010 Soccer World Cup Bid.
South Africa has competed with reasonable success in international competitions by developing world standards.
Our Minister for Sport and Recreation is serving in the World Anti-doping Agency.
South Africa has been awarded the Regional Office of the World Anti-doping Agency to look after Africa. That relates very well to the African Renaissance programme.
We appeal for patience, commitment and cooperation, we are on the right course.
Sithi asincome igalelo lika Moses Ndimande e Mgungundlovu. Undimande uqeqesha intsha yase Edendale, Imbali and Ashdown kumdlalo we Thenisi. Lokhu ukwenza engabheke nkokhelo, eqoqa intsha eyivimba ukuthi ingangenwa wubugebengu, nkuphuza utshwala nokubhema izidakamizwa. Ndimande ka Mdladla sithi uyibekile induku ebandla.
Sibonga umsebenzi owenziwe wu Jomo Sono ngegalelo lakhe lokusiza abanegciwane likagawulayo. U Jomo wanikela ngendawo ayeyithengele iJomo Cosmos.Lendawo isisetshenziswa ukugcina izingane ezinegciwane likagawulayo. Mfoka Sono usugogodile kwezokuthuthukisa umphakathi, I South Africa idinga amadoda afana nawe. Kwande lapho othathe khona Mjomane.
Gert Viljoen is the principal of Hope School for the Disabled. His school runs a special golf programme. Where pupils with disabilities are trained and coached in golf. Nkosi Mashinini and Felicia Ntuli are products of this initiative. We applaud This initiative. its relevance in profiling sport for disabled people in South Africa.
Honorable members these initiatives are a demonstration of what co-operation between government community and private sector institutions can achieve.
The ANC supports this budget vote.
I thank you.