FRIDAY, 8 JUNE 2001 __

          PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
                                ____

The Council met at 09:32.

The Deputy Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS see col 000.

           CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD WISHES TO SPORTSPEOPLE

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr N M RAJU: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council, noting that sport-loving South Africans have a busy weekend ahead -

(1) congratulates one of South Africa’s great footballers, Jomo Sono, owner of Jomo Cosmos, on his recent appointment by CAF (Confederation of African Football) as selector/coach for a squad representing the SADC footballing nations - a unique honour which signals the elevation of South African football and South African sport to new heights of recognition in world football;

(2) further congratulates the finalists of the Bob-Save Cup Final, Santos of Cape Town and Sundowns of Tshwane, awaiting with keen anticipation a showcase final at the FNB stadium tomorrow afternoon, this as a starter for an equally mouthwatering top-class match when two of South Africa’s charismatic teams, Orlando Pirates and Kaiser Chiefs, lock horns yet again;

(3) sends its good wishes to all the runners from all corners of the world who will be participating in the now world-famous Comrades Marathon in Thekweni, Durban, next week; and

(4) wishes the rugby Springboks every success in the first test against France next week.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! Is there any objection to this multipronged motion? There is no objection and the motion is agreed to.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

    SEIZURE OF PATAGONIAN TOOTHFISH AND ILLEGALLY CAUGHT CRAYFISH

                         (Draft Resolution)

Rev M CHABAKU: Chairperson, the Minister present, MECs and special delegates, and hon members ÿ.ÿ.ÿ.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! Hon member, is that a motion … Rev M CHABAKU: … I move without notice:

That the Council -

 (1)    commends the Fisheries Control and customs officials who  seized
     a  container  crammed  with  approximately  R3  million  worth   of
     Patagonian toothfish and illegally caught crayfish;


 (2)    notes that the container was waiting to be exported to  the  USA
     and that it had allegedly been packed by Hout Bay Fisheries,  which
     has links with  the  Marine  and  Coastal  Management  that  is  at
     present involved in a court case; and


 (3)     commends  the  Scorpions  and  its  associated  agencies  which
     continue to expose the corruption which whisks away  tons  of  fish
     worth  millions  of  rands,  depriving  marine  workers  of   their
     livelihood and the country of its assets and financial returns.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

 APPRECIATION FOR NATIONAL AND WESTERN CAPE CLEANING-UP INITIATIVES

                         (Draft Resolution)

Dr E A CONROY: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council expresses its appreciation -

(1) in the first instance to Minister Valli Moosa, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, for the bold and decisive step he has taken to rid South Africa of refuse which threatens to suffocate South Africans and foreign tourists alike, by announcing an annual prize of R1 million to be awarded to the cleanest city or town in South Africa; and

(2) secondly to Mr Glen Adams, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Environmental Affairs, for his active participation in the process of ridding South Africa of unacceptable levels of refuse by launching the Western Cape’s Operation Clean-Up.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

          DISCOVERY OF MANDRAX FACTORY OUTSIDE JOHANNESBURG

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mrs E N LUBIDLA: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes with concern the discovery of a Mandrax factory on smallholdings in Walkerville, between Johannesburg and Vereeniging;

(2) welcomes this breakthrough of the police special task force and crime intelligence branch, and organised crime and forensic units formed to clamp down on drug syndicates; and

(3) expresses its support for the Minister of Safety and Security and calls on him -

   (a)  to  thoroughly  investigate  this  matter  and  leave  no  stone
       unturned so as to deal with this syndicate with the  full  might
       of the law; and


   (b)  as a matter of urgency, to make use of legislation providing for
       the  seizure  of  the  assets  of  those  responsible  for  drug
       manufacturing and drug dealing.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

           SOUTH AFRICAN SPORTS COMMISSION AMENDMENT BILL
                      SOUTH AFRICAN BOXING BILL

           (Consideration of Bills and of Reports thereon)

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! Members, I have just been informed that there is only one speakers’ list for Orders 1 and 2.

I take this opportunity to welcome the hon the Minister of Sport and Recreation and also special delegates from provinces, including the MECs.

The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Chairperson, MECs present, special delegates and hon members, I present to this House two Bills for members’ consideration. The first of these Bills, the South African Boxing Bill, deals with professional boxing in our country, while the second one relates to amendments necessary to the South African Sports Commission Act of 1998. This amendment provides for a streamlining of the composition of the commission, and ensures a greater degree of accountability to the executive authority.

Professional boxing is the only sport that is regulated by an Act of Parliament. Currently, the Boxing and Wrestling Control Act, Act 39 of 1954, is intended, in particular, to look after the interests of the most vulnerable constituency in the boxing fraternity, namely the boxers themselves. The current legislation, however, has numerous shortcomings.

The Act is amongst the oldest pieces of legislation still on the Statute Book from the apartheid era. Instead of promoting the sport, it serves to hinder and obstruct the growth and development of professional boxing. Moreover, in many respects, it is simply unconstitutional.

This Bill paves the way for, amongst other things, a streamlined procedure that will cement our future as a global player in professional boxing. It rids us of a structure that does not serve the best interests of the primary stakeholders in sport, the boxers themselves. Furthermore, it lifts the prohibition on female boxing, a clause in the current Act that is in conflict with our Constitution.

More than that, the South African Boxing Bill will ensure the effective and efficient administration of professional boxing, and create the mechanism for a synergy between boxing in the paid ranks and amateur boxing, a feature that is currently lacking in the legislation. The Bill provides for the establishment of a boxing commission to be known as Boxing SA, and allows all role-players the right to organise within their own ranks. Boxers, managers, trainers, officials and promoters will now enjoy the right to form associations or a federation of associations to serve their respective interests.

It is no secret that the vast majority of professional boxers struggle to eke out an existence. On their retirement, many boxers are destitute, with nothing to show for their years of dedication to the sport and their sacrifices in the ring. They become mere statistics, and face a new struggle for survival once their competitive days are over. One can think of boxers like Anthony `Blue Jaguar’ Morodi here, Happyboy Mgxaji, Tap-Tap Makhathini, and a host of other boxers, including Beshu Sibaqa from the Western Cape. The new Bill will seek to prevent that. It is also an attempt to address the inequities that exist between the boxer and the other role-players who benefit from the exploits of the former without being subjected to dangers in the ring. The Bill also seeks to provide for a smooth transition from amateur boxing to the professional ranks, thus putting a halt to the uncontrolled exploitation of young boxers by unscrupulous matchmakers. I want to mention here a case of one boxer who is one of our top boxers in South Africa now, who started boxing at the age of 11. That is just not correct.

Under the existing Act, professional boxing has been bleeding profusely. The rights of boxers have been trampled upon by their obligations to agents, promoters and other beneficiaries who often ignored and disregarded them. The South African Boxing Bill is an attempt to rectify that situation and, furthermore, provide for an effective dispute resolution mechanism that is currently lacking.

The independence of Boxing SA is guaranteed by this Bill, and Boxing SA will have jurisdiction over all national and international fights in the Republic of South Africa. The Bill creates the mechanism for the effective marketing of boxing, both as a sport and as a business, and it provides a framework for the establishment of infrastructure that will ensure the growth and development of professional boxing.

Professional boxing in the provinces stands to gain tremendously from this new Bill once it is enacted. It lays down the framework for effective and efficient administration at national level, and creates mechanisms vital to the marketing and promotion of the sport. This will have a major impact on the relationship between the national controlling body and the provincial boxing structures.

Members will be aware that over the last two years numerous problems were experienced as a result of the virtual collapse of boxing administration nationally. This necessitated various interventions. Provinces were not left unscathed by this, and it is my belief that this Bill will go a long way towards preventing similar disruptive actions.

This Bill only provides for professional boxing at a national level. However, this does not mean that provincial boxing will be left in a vacuum. On the contrary, boxing in the provinces is the very lifeblood of the sport and, in order to ensure continuity and the least possible disruption, provincial boxing will continue to be administered according to the existing Act for the time being.

This does not mean that it will not also change. I intend tackling the need for legislation for the administration of provincial boxing through a process of consultation with all the relevant stakeholders, including MECs responsible for sport and recreation, as well as provincial controlling bodies.

This process will start as early as 25 June 2001, when I meet with the MECs in Minmec. I will be guided by the contributions of the province in this regard, and legislation to be introduced to Parliament will stipulate how boxing will be regulated in the provinces, and how provincial boxing will relate to boxing at national level. In this I would like to see a synergy of what is happening at national level being built together with what is happening at the provincial level.

I cannot see that this Bill should pose any problem to anybody. It reflects the principles enshrined in our Constitution, and protects the rights of participants as citizens of our country. I present to the hon members the South African Boxing Bill.

In much the same way that the South African Boxing Bill provides for more effective administration, the South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill will improve the potential of the commission to play a pivotal role in the effective administration of sport and recreation throughout the country.

Currently, the SA Sports Commission co-exists with a smaller department now known as Sports and Recreation South Africa. It became necessary to review the size and composition of the SA Sports Commission as stipulated in the principal Act, and to entrench the functions and the responsibilities of the executive authority.

Members will notice that I have mentioned the executive authority regarding both of these pieces of legislation. There is absolutely no way that we cannot consolidate the gains that we have made over the years. We have to do that to make sure that things move the way they are supposed to.

Given the fact that the chief executive officer, appointed at the level of director-general, can adequately perform the main thrust of the functions of the commission, a review was needed of the roles of the chairperson and the deputy chairperson of the commission. It also became evident that a board of 30 commissioners is an unwieldy and costly structure, and that it is necessary to structure the board not on the basis of representation, but rather on that of the expertise necessary to fulfil the vital functions.

The South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill will contribute immensely toward allowing me to fulfil my responsibilities as the managing director of sport, as stipulated in the Public Finance Management Act. It provides for the reduction of the number of commissioners to 12, with commissioners being appointed or elected on the basis of their skills or expertise in areas of sport and recreation, policy formulation, management and international relations. This will provide for more efficient decision- making and a consequent improvement in delivery to their clients, the national federations and other macro sport bodies.

The provision in the amending Bill for a general assembly, as a sports parliament of South Africa, will further enhance democracy, representativeness and accountability.

The Bill further provides for greater accountability in the commission’s financial matters, bringing it in line with the PFMA and related Treasury requirements. It is my contention that this amending Bill will improve the potential of the commission to play a vital role in developing sport and recreation from grass roots to gold.

At the launch of the commission on Thursday, 15 March, I described the event as the birth of a new life for South African sport. But more than that, it creates the mechanisms for a co-ordinated approach to sport throughout the country.

Pivotal to this is the growth and development of sport in our provinces. In recent times we have noticed an increasing reluctance and hedging by certain sports codes to give effect to transformation in provinces. This is a major concern to me. The SA Sports Commission can, and should, play a central role in this, not only in a monitoring capacity, but also by overseeing the processes of transformation. It thus calls for greater co- operation between the SA Sports Commission and the provinces and for creative mechanisms to ensure effective lines of communication between national and provincial structures.

There are provinces considering the formation of sports councils, to co- ordinate sporting codes within provinces. Given the fact that the National Sports Council has dissolved, this could be a possible option. However, I am of the view that we need to engage in discussions with the provinces and the SA Sports Commission to address the matter of relationships between provinces and national structures.

I therefore present to hon members the South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill. [Applause.]

Mr N M RAJU: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Special Delegates and hon colleagues, granted hon Minister, that sport in SA played a divisive role under the unlamented apartheid regime, the days when a Japanesejockey, was granted honorary white status, to be able to ride in an international race meeting in the Republic. The darkest day in South African sport, when a true-blooded cricketer, none other than Cape Town’s own Basil d’Oliveira, had to be hounded out of his motherland as persona non-grata, in order to play international cricket as a member of the MCC.

The shameful day when the humble illiterate Indian golfer from Durban, Papwa Sewgolum, was presented with his trophy in pouring rain outside the Durban Country Club premises after he won the Natal Open Championship, defeating the great white golfer, Gary Player in the process. It was an act of legislation, the obnoxious Group Areas Act, that dictated that the Durban Country Club premises were for whites only.

Those were days hon Minister, when the government of the day made it its nasty business to interfere in the lives of South Africans in every which way as possible. No privacy was sacrosanct.

Why do I recount those unsavoury acts that sportsmen of colour had to endure in SA. It is precisely for the reasons that this Government must beware, that it does not become another replica of an interfering government, with a phobia for centralising control of everything, from sport to gold mining. Quite frankly, what we need in SA, is less government and more power to the people. Few Commissions and more space for the sporting fraternities to exercise their own choices. Especially in sport, government must be less visible. The Ministry of Sport and Recreation must not usurp the territory of the Minister of Safety and Security, where of course, greater visible policing is of paramount importance.

While SA is a fledgling democracy, South Africans are mature enough to follow the dictates of what true democracy expects of how they handle and manage their affairs to the satisfaction of their constituencies. Government interference must be taboo. The Boxing Commission true, is intended to put right what is perceived to be flawed and deficient in many respects, but commissions, as a rule, ring alarm bells.

I hasten to acknowledge that I have no doubt whatsoever of the noble intentions of the hon Minister. I am certain, as a former rugby and cricket player himself, who was of course, like so many heroic South Africans, denied access to national colours, for reasons of colour of course, the Minister understands fully the folly of interference from government, however well-meaning they may be. My party has a problem because in the words of the Minister himself, he is going to become the Managing Director of Sport, and that would of necessity, mean interfering in the running of sport. [Interjections.] Surely, the consolidation and progress in sport, is not the terrain of government. It is the terrain of sportspeople themselves and I am sure, given this space and opportunity, they would act in a responsible fashion.

The Government’s interest in the development of talent among South Africans, is welcome and appreciated. The Governments underlining of the importance of performances by SA sportsmen and sportswomen in the highest international forums of the world is well-taken. The opening of the door to women boxers, as an interesting act of empowerment. We agree that in terms of the Constitution, it is an imperative that the aspect of gender equality be fully recognised and ensured that it is on the right line. What is not clear of course, is whether they will be confined to heavyweight, welterweight, lightweight or featherweight. Or will it be cruiserweight?

Unfortunately because of the aspect of government interference, which is quite clear, my party cannot support the Boxing Bill. [Interjections.]

Mr J O TLHAGALE: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members of this House and hon officials from the department, the Bill before this House, once promulgated, will replace the current Act and will be known as the South African Boxing Act. It will address sports nationally, but because sport is a concurrent interest, another Bill, we are told, will be drafted soon to deal with sports provincially.

Boxing SA will consist of no fewer than four and no more than seven members appointed by the Minister on a part-time basis. The Bill makes provision for the payment of an annual honorarium or allowance, and for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by such members.

The Bill also makes provision for women’s boxing. However, the regulations governing women’s boxing that are currently being compiled will be aimed particularly at the safety aspect of the women, so that the battering of women boxers does not happen.

Boxing SA will include a legal adviser, a medical doctor and an auditor to ensure that issues are dealt with properly and as expeditiously as possible. This Bill is an improvement over the previous Act, and the UCDP supports it. [Applause.]

The South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill seeks to regulate the composition of the South African Sports Commission so that the number of commissioners is reduced from 30 to 12. The reason for this reduction is the need for efficiency and effectiveness. The general assembly, comprising federations and associations, will appoint six members, while the other six will be appointed by the Minister from each of the following categories of people: people from rural areas, women and Boxing SA, persons with disabilities, persons with a good knowledge and experience of international relations, persons with a good knowledge of and experience in policy formulations and Nocsa. These people will be selected on the basis of their expertise and commitment to developing sports in South Africa. It is hoped that they will contribute immensely to providing an efficient delivery system.

The UCDP supports the Bill. [Applause.]

Mnr A E VAN NIEKERK: Mnr die Voorsitter, dit was vir my baie interessant om te sien, terwyl die vorige spreker gepraat het, hoe koning Mokoena na hom gekyk het, veral toe hy gepraat het van die voorsorg wat getref word dat vroue nie te na gekom sal word deur die nuwe boksregulasies nie.

Die wetsontwerp oor boks in Suid-Afrika het baie goeie bedoelings om ‘n nuwe struktuur te skep vir al die rolspelers in professionele en amateurboks in Suid-Afrika, en om die nuwe kommissie, naamlik Boks SA, tot stand te bring, maar dit beoog veral om beter interaksie en verhoudings tussen boksers, bestuurders, afrigters, promotors en beamptes tot stand te bring.

Die vraag is egter of hierdie wetsontwerp voldoen aan die behoeftes van die mense wat hy moet dien, met ander woorde die boksers, bestuurders, afrigters, promotors en beamptes. Ons erken, in ‘n baie groot mate doen hy dit, maar ongelukkig is daar ook ‘n probleem. Alhoewel daar konsensus is ten opsigte van talle belangrike aspekte, ignoreer dit basiese insette van provinsiale sportdepartemente en ander spesialiste in die bokswêreld, veral ten opsigte van wie die komplekse verhoudings in boks moet reguleer en hoe dit gedoen moet word.

Ten spyte van die uitgebreide konsultasieproses, en dit was werklik ‘n uitgebreide konsultasieproses, van die boks-transformasiespan en ander boks- indaba’s of insette deur boksverteenwoordigers by die portefeuljekomitee blyk dit dat die beroep wat die boksgemeenskap gedoen het om demokraties hulle eie leiers te kies om hulle te reguleer geïgnoreer is.

Alhoewel die agb Minister sekere versekerings hieroor aangebied het, kan ‘n bus hom mos nou môre doodry, en dan is daar niks van die goeie bedoelings van die agb Minister in die Wetboek nie. Daarna sal ons verseker moet kyk, want die agb Minister, al is hy ook hóé goed en al is sy bedoelings hóé goed, kan nie namens die mense teen hulle wil hierdie besluite neem nie.

Alhoewel die wetsontwerp ‘n groot verbetering is op die wet van ‘54 en alhoewel outydse regulasies verwyder word, is dit onaanvaarbaar dat die Minister die mag in eie hande neem en namens die mense besluit, al is dit teen hulle wil. Ons sê mos almal, en veral in sport stem ons daarmee saam, ``The people shall govern.’’ [Tussenwerpsels.] Dieselfde argument wat ek nou hier geopper het, geld ook vir die wysigingswetsontwerp oor die Suid- Afrikaanse sportkommissie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Mr A E VAN NIEKERK: Mr Chairman, what I found very interesting to see, when the previous speaker was speaking, was the way that King Mokoena was looking at him, particularly when he spoke about the care that must be taken so that women will not be detrimentally affected by the new boxing regulations.

The South African Boxing Bill has very good intentions, to create a new structure for all the role-players in professional and amateur boxing in South Africa, and to establish the new commission, namely Boxing SA, but it envisages in particular to bring about better interaction and relations between boxers, trainers, promoters and officials.

However, the question is whether this Bill complies with the requirements of the people it must serve, in other words, the boxers, managers, trainers, promoters and officials. We acknowledge that it does so to a large degree, but unfortunately there is also a problem. Although there is consensus in respect of many important aspects, it ignores basic contributions by the provincial sports departments and other specialists in the world of boxing, especially with regard to who should regulate the complex relations in boxing and how this should be done.

In spite of the extended consultation process, and this was really an extended consultation process, by the boxing transformation team and other boxing indabas or contributions by boxing representatives at the portfolio committee, it seems as if the appeal by the boxing community democratically to select their own leaders to regulate them was ignored.

Although the hon the Minister gave certain assurances in this regard, surely a bus could run him over tomorrow and then nothing remains in the Statute Book of the good intentions of the hon the Minister. This we shall most certainly have to look at, because the hon the Minister, even if his intentions are really good, cannot make these decisions on behalf of the people against their will.

Although the Bill is a great improvement on the 1954 Act and although old- fashioned regulations are being removed, it is unacceptable that the Minister may take the power into his own hands and make decisions on behalf of those people, even if this is against their will. Surely we all say, and especially in sport we agree with this, ``The people shall govern.’’ [Interjections.] The same argument that I have raised here now also goes for the South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! Hon member, would you please take your seat for a while. On what point are you rising, hon member?

Mr T B TAABE: Chairperson, could the unintelligible hon Van Niekerk take a brilliant question from this side of the Chamber? Mr A E VAN NIEKERK: Chairperson, I am prepared to take a question if the ANC agrees that I take some of their time to complete my speech.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! No, there is no such thing. [Laughter.]

Mr A E VAN NIEKERK: Then I will take it later on.

Om presies dieselfde rede en dieselfde argument wat ook geld ten opsigte van die wysigingswetsontwerp oor die Suid-Afrikaanse sportkommissie sal ek ongelukkig nou die agb Minister ‘n bloedneus moet gee en sê die Nuwe NP stem teen albei die wetsontwerpe. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[For precisely the same reason and because of the same argument that is also valid in respect of the South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill, I will unfortunately have to give the hon the Minister a bloody nose and say that the New NP is voting against both Bills.] Mr D M KGWARE: Chairperson, hon Minister, MECs and colleagues, the question of sport is not child’s play. Our intention, and the national agenda that we have, is to transform sports. One of the issues is that we need to unify the country, and we see sport as the major vehicle through which we must reach our actual objective.

I would like to make a special appeal to the hon members to please attend whenever there are briefings through the departments together with the committee, so that they can be on board. I would like to urge them to attend, participate and take sport seriously. There are millions of our children out there who would like to at least benefit from this. If we play as public representatives, but do not take sport seriously, it then becomes a serious issue.

I was going to start with the South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill, but I am forced to start with a brief input on the South African Boxing Bill. I do not think that anybody can seriously question the need for any government to intervene and regulate the boxing profession in their country. South Africa is no exception. The reasons for Government intervention are quite obvious.

Over the decades, as the Minister has already said, boxing has generated enormous wealth for a handful of boxers while the majority of professional boxers have been left destitute, penniless and punch-drunk. Anticompetitive and fraudulent business practices appear to be the norm, and professional boxers are subjected to exploitation daily.

Contrary to what the lay public may believe, great boxers who command attention and influence are few and far between. The absence of real money- making ability leaves the average boxer with little choice but to latch on to a promoter. A promoter who has provided money and support for many years, and consistently lines up bouts, will have great influence and control.

Promoters are well aware of their power and some take full advantage of that. Some promoters use option contracts that tie the boxers to them for a number of years. At times the boxers must accept the promoter’s relatives as managers and trainers and give them a third or more of every fight purse.

It has been said that some promoters make boxers sign blank contracts with the terms filled in later. Even a boxer who is not controlled by a promoter may quickly become indentured. Some promoters, who control champions, force challengers to sign up with them as a precondition to obtaining a title fight.

Of similar concern is the sanctioning of organisations that designate a champion and rank challengers. Often rankings are not based on objective talent or on win-loss records. Rather, boxers who belong to certain promoters may be highly ranked regardless of skill and ability. A fighter could be the best in his weight class, but if he is not associated with the right promoter or if he does not stick to the rules, he may not be ranked.

This creates fraud that can have deadly consequences. What is advertised as a major championship battle turns out to be nothing more than a mismatch between a tough experienced boxer and an inferior one. A case in point is the November 13, 1982, bout between Ray ``Boom Boom’’ Mancini and Duk Koo Kim of South Korea. Mancini knocked out Kim, who never regained consciousness and died. Amazingly, Kim had been rated as a top contender by the WBA despite the fact that he was not even among Korea’s 40 top fighters.

Finally, boxing possesses no governing body or league structures; the collective organisation of boxers is nonexistent; and rules, regulations and their enforcement vary from province to province.

The South African Boxing Bill seeks to address the problems which I have pointed out. It will establish uniform rules which will apply to all boxers, promoters, trainers, managers, officials and other stakeholders involved in boxing. This is an intervention which may have come a little late for boxers who have been exploited in the past, but it will definitely be welcomed by all those who have a genuine interest in the sport of boxing.

With this I would like to say that we support the Boxing Bill. I also need to make clear that when we debated this at committee level, we agreed. We do not change in the House; we should change at committee level.

The SA Sports Commission is the chief agency leading South Africa to world- class sporting excellence. This it seeks to do by improving opportunities for all South Africans to participate in sport and recreation. We have national or international activities coming: the Commonwealth Games, the Olympics, and all that. All that means that we need to put in much more effort.

The commission does so by identifying sports on which to focus resources, developing infrastructure where it is absent, and accelerating the training of coaches and managers to internationally acceptable standards. The strategic objectives of the commission are, therefore, to promote the advancement of talented athletes by providing access to scientific support training, developing their life-skills and ensuring a supportive social environment for these atheletes.

Lastly, the amendments to the South African Sports Commission Act were necessitated by a number of factors which were not foreseen at the time the Act was originally drafted. These factors have, to some extent, impacted on the ability of the commission to fulfil its important obligation towards the sporting community of our country. However, some of the amendments were also necessary to ensure greater accountability of the commission to Parliament and to the Minister of Sport and Recreation. It is my belief that these amendments will help to improve the working of the commission and should therefore be supported by all of us.

In conclusion, as we have our national lottery we hope that when we get our slice, we will also be able to make some money available for the development of sport with the SA Sports Commission. [Applause.] The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Chairperson, I must thank the hon members for participating in the debate on both these Bills. I think I do need to say that I take any person I come across as a person of integrity. As the hon member Kgware says, when we discussed these Bills in the committee, the members there understood and accepted everything that we discussed with them. I will not say much about members who were not there, like Mr Van Niekerk. I have never seen him. I see him …

… vir die eerste keer hier. [… here for the first time.]

I do not think I eagerly anticipate seeing him again, but …

… daar is ‘n verskil tussen mnr Raju en mnr Van Niekerk. Daardie verskil is baie eenvoudig. [… there is a difference between Mr Raju and Mr Van Niekerk. The difference is very simple.]

It lies in Mr Raju’s understanding of sport in the country in terms of where it comes from, what it has done over the years, and how the apartheid system denigrated people and stripped them of their dignity. He related some of those incidents here at the beginning of his speech. Mr Raju was there. He knows it. That he is now a member of an organisation which is a lost cause is beyond my understanding; just beyond my understanding. [Laughter.] That is why I say …

… daar is ‘n verskil en ek verstaan nie hoe mnr Raju … [… there is a difference and I do not understand how Mr Raju …]

… can take orders from people who used to do such things to Basil d’Oliveira and to the golfers that he is talking about. But he still agrees with them in what he is saying. [Interjections.]

Ek verstaan dit nie. Dit slaan my dronk. [Gelag.] [I do not understand it. That beats me. [Laughter.]]

But then one has to understand that a piece of bread … Just leave it there. [Interjections.] Exactly. [Laughter.] So I am quite disappointed, because he understands, he knows people who put their lives on the line to get South Africa where it is today. [Interjections.] Thank you. So it is very disturbing.

Now, one of the things that the hon member mentioned was those issues, and we are saying as this present Government that such things will never happen again. Never again will the likes of Basil d’Oliveira and youngsters who came after Basil be driven out of this country because of the laws of this country. [Interjections.] Never again will that Indian golfer take his trophy in the rain having beaten Gary Player. He knows him very well. But he still goes on to say, ``No Government interference.’’ I will tell Mr Raju good news: We will interfere. We will intervene, because we want to change the status quo. We want to change that situation. [Applause.]

He was saying that sportspeople are mature enough. I can tell him now that some of them are not. Some of them are still holding onto old, old views. It is a pity that this House will not give me a chance to show hon members a letter I received this morning. I was reading it coming here. Interesting, and I did not think I would use it here. [Interjections.]

It is a letter written by a certain Mr J Knoesen - it is an Afrikaans surname, Knoesen. The letter was written to me on 14 May 2001 on the political interference by the terrorist ANC in rugby. I have not read it, I only read the last paragraph, which is shocking:

We demand that the whites must have their rights and we don’t want your evil so-called ``transformation’’ thrust down our throats!

Dit is nou mnr Van Niekerk. [Now that is Mr Van Niekerk.]

Another thing I should mention is that some of these parties, like the New NP and that ``Dom Alliance’’ do not take other sports seriously. Once one touches what they think and perceive to be their sport, rugby, they get all fussy.

They do not take other sports seriously. They have this thing that rugby is ``our sport’’. I have got news for the hon Mr Van Niekerk, very good news. We are going to intervene, we are going to make a paradigm shift in sport, we are going to change it. Whether the hon member likes it or not, we are going to do it.

The hon Mr Van Niekerk may therefore sit here and talk about whatever he wants to, but he is wasting his time. We are the party that is in government. We are here to change things that have not been changed in this country.

The hon member might just as well keep on prattling and talking, it will not help him at all. Government will be involved in sport, Government will change sport, Government will push for paradigm shifts in sport because we do not want the same things to happen that happened before. We do not apologise for that, I do not. I have been a sportsperson for years. I do not apologise for those things.

I want to sincerely thank the hon members that supported the two pieces of legislation. I thank them very much because they know exactly how it feels to receive one’s trophy in the rain. We do not want that to happen again.

In no way are we going to allow a situation where boxing does as it likes. We have the 1954 piece of legislation. The hon member said that a very good consultation process took place and that there is a large improvement in the new Bill as compared to the old one. That improvement, however, does not apply to the member himself. He says there is too much power in the hands of the Minister. Unfortunately I am the Minister and I will never give the power to him. The ``bloedneus’’ [bloody nose] [Laughter.]

Dit sal ‘n baie, baie koue dag wees as die NNP my ‘n bloedneus gee. [Gelag.] [It will be a very, very cold day if the New NP give me a bloody nose. [Laughter.]]

It will be a very cold day.

The hon member should go home, think about it and know that one does not give a rugby forward like me a ``bloedneus’’ [bloody nose.] One does not. I want to tell the hon Van Niekerk that I have been in the trenches and I do not get a bloody nose very easily. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

South African Sports Commission Bill agreed to in accordance with section 75 of the Constitution.

South African Boxing Bill, subject to proposed amendments, agreed to in accordance with section 75 of the Constitution.

                         APPROPRIATION BILL

                           (Policy debate) Vote No 18 - Sport and Recreation:

The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Chairperson, it is indeed an honour to address this august House in this, my second budget speech as Minister of Sport and Recreation. Much has happened over the year and it gives me great pleasure to present to the House today our visions and plans for the year that lies ahead.

I remember the enthusiastic contribution of the MEC responsible for sport in the Northern Cape, Brian Hermanus, to this debate last year, and it is hard to believe that he is no longer with us. Nor is Mr Elvis Nkwenyane, the head of the Mpumalanga department responsible for sport and recreation. I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those two colleagues, both of whom died tragically in the course of performing their duties. While their contributions to the development of sport and recreation, especially amongst disadvantaged communities, will be sorely missed, I believe that the standards that they have set will serve as an inspiration to their successors. My address here today, as was the case in the National Assembly not too long ago, will relate primarily to sport’s contribution to the policy thrusts identified by the President at the opening of Parliament in February of this year, especially his reference to building a nation, united in action for change. In this regard I shall be focusing on the role of sport and recreation in addressing this objective.

I am sure none of us here today would dispute the potential of sport in nation-building. The fact that the rugby test on 16 June between the Springboks and the French national team at Ellis Park will constitute part of the Youth Day celebrations is a clear example of the potential role that sport can play in promoting change in pursuit of a better South Africa for all. Safa will also host a match in Durban on 17 June as part of the Youth Day celebrations. The players will be visiting Umlazi as part of the event the following day.

I would like to congratulate both Sarfu and Safa on these initiatives with regard to Youth Day. I urge our rugby and soccer-loving public to support these ventures. I would also like to urge the provincial departments to support the many sports initiatives that will form part of the Youth Day celebrations on and around 16 June, if they are not already doing so.

Allow me to say unequivocally that I shall be relentless in the coming year in ensuring that sport does serve as a catalyst for change in our country. I shall challenge any sports federation that undermines these efforts uncompromisingly.

Hon members will recall that at one stage, sport was one of the leading protagonists for change in this country. We have unfortunately lost that advantage and I would like to commit myself here today to turning that trend around.

During the course of 2000, several major sports federations set targets for achieving representivity in their teams. I shall be examining their performances very shortly. New targets will have to be set to ensure that we proceed progressively and rapidly towards our goal of total representivity in line with the demographics of the country.

I am totally committed to this objective. I shall shortly be engaging the national federations, big and small, with a view to measuring their performance and extracting from them new commitments for the year ahead. I will request all of them to set new targets to which I will hold them accountable, and use any means at my disposal to ensure compliance.

I am aware that, in some instances, especially the smaller federations have been getting away with murder. Transformation in sport involves more than just the attainment of unity. We have now passed that stage of unity. It involves a paradigm shift in which nonracialism, democracy and representivity become fundamental principles that inform all our practice. I will no longer tolerate a situation in which conformity to the minimum representivity conditions becomes the norm.

Again, I want to reiterate the fact that the practice of replacing a black player in a team by another black player to meet the minimum requirements cannot continue, as a representative team can comprise more than just three black players. That is what most of these federations do. They have two black players in the team. They have one on the bench, and the other is on the field. They then replace that black one with the other black one, and then say they have made their quota. That is absolute rubbish. [Interjections.]

Very often, the national federations blame their provincial affiliates for the lack of representivity at the national level. I am of the opinion, therefore, that the provincial departments will have to get involved in the debate to ensure that changes are implemented. I shall be hosting a conference on transformation in sport later this year, and will spell out my intentions in this regard at that forum. I gave notice of this at the recent general assembly of the SA Sports Commission and received large-scale support for that initiative. I would like to urge provinces to participate in that forum, and to use the resolutions that we take there as a basis for tackling the problems in their back yards.

I want to issue a stern warning again against the practice in certain federations - and those federations know who they are - that use the principle of democracy simplistically to exclude blacks from positions in their management structures. Democracy, in the South African sports context, is more than just a simple numbers game. It is obvious that in terms of membership and numbers of clubs white clubs will dominate, given our history.

When numbers are used to vote predominantly white executive members into power, with a sprinkling of token black faces only in the top structures, we have lost the spirit, not only of transformation in South Africa, but also of reconciliation and nonracism. It is a facade that I will challenge vigorously. I am aware that this problem may be more extreme in the provinces and will, therefore, elicit your support in rooting out this evil at the basic levels.

My department will also host a colloquium at the world antiracism conference later this year in Durban, at which the question of racism in sport will receive prominence. When one talks about racism in sport, one is talking about all kinds of excuses that are made by national federations: The player is not ready. He does not know the rules. He is still too young''. But there is a 19-year-old student who has been taken into the Springbok team. Nobody is saying he is too young. But if he were a black player, they would be saying:He is not ready yet. He is too young.’’ [Interjections.]

You people are hopeless. [Interjections.] You should not even be talking, because you are a disgrace. [Interjections.]

Mr C ACKERMANN: You are talking nonsense.

The CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Order! Mr Van Niekerk, order! [Interjections.] I am sorry, it was actually Mr Ackermann. My apologies. [Laughter.] It is all right. [Interjections.] Return to your seat, Mr Sulliman.

The MINISTER: Chairperson, we are hoping to involve some of the world’s leading protagonists of nonracism in sport, and our programme will feature a soccer match between a European under-23 team and a South African under- 23 team under the banner ``Red-carding Racism in Sport’’. We should do that: red-card racism in sport. It comes in many forms.

I trust that I will enjoy hon members’ support in these endeavours. I would like to express my thanks, in anticipation, to the KwaZulu-Natal province for their promised support in this project, and I urge all other provinces to send delegates to attend this event as well.

Allow me to say in this regard also that the incident involving the nine rugby players in the Northern Province does not do sport in general, and rugby in particular, any good. I trust that justice will be done in this case, and that this sad episode in our country’s history will inspire all of us to rid our society of the scourge of racism.

To that effect we wrote immediately to the Northern Province people to say that they should suspend all nine rugby players. Their club should not play rugby in South Africa until the case has been finalised. They will remain suspended until the case has been finalised.

I have recently appointed a ministerial task team to advise me on ways and means to improve the performances of our athletes and teams in international competitions. I am convinced that we can do much better if we pool our scarce resources to prepare our athletes for participation in international competitions. It makes no sense for me to have separate structures preparing the same athletes that participate in different international competitions. Such a practice, while being economically unsound, also sows confusion amongst our athletes.

We can ill afford the luxury of this level of fragmentation. The degree of consensus that has emerged in the preliminary report of the task team against such fragmentation bodes very well for the preparation of our sports teams in the future. I look forward to receiving the final report of the task team. In this context, I would like to applaud the efforts of the CEO of the SA Sports Commission, Dr Joe Phaahla, who is here with us today

• he is sitting over there - and the members of the task team, for the sterling work that they are doing.

Dr Phaahla will be visiting all the provinces during the month of June to inform all the stakeholders of the progress of that ministerial task team to date, and to solicit their inputs on the matter.

The initial reflections of the task team on how to divide the scarce pool of resources available for sport and recreation are encouraging indeed. I can only concur that Government and the private sector will have to work together if we are going to make any headway in international sport.

I would like to express my concern about the slow rate of progress in promoting a more equitable dispensation for women in sport in our country. Despite various efforts, we have not had the rate of success that we envisaged in addressing this very urgent matter. For me, changes in this crucial sphere must be prioritised, and I shall be focusing attention on the matter during this year. Again, provinces have a critical role to play. I am aware of women-in-sport initiatives that are still surviving in some of the provinces. I would like to encourage all provinces to address the matter, which has to be tackled at the grass-roots level.

I am of the opinion that the Department of Sport and Recreation has been extremely fortunate over the year to the extent that we have been provided with a resource that we could only have dreamt of before. The access that we have been afforded to poverty relief, infrastructure creation and job creation funds has positioned us amongst major role-players in the public sector to tackle the crucial issue of poverty.

In our quest to access these resources, we have argued that the building of sports and recreation facilities in disadvantaged communities can contribute to temporary and permanent job creation, income generation and, hence, poverty relief. We are committed to making a success of this project over the next three years with a view to securing these funds as part of our baseline budget beyond 2004 to facilitate delivery in an area in which there is also a huge backlog in our country. We shall therefore be contributing to the resolution of the twin problems of poverty and the shortage of sports facilities in disadvantaged communities.

We have been granted R40 million in the first year of the project, R96 million in the second year and R129 million in the third year, provided we are successful in each of the three years. I am very committed to ensuring that we are successful. Of course, facility creation is a function of the provincial and local tiers of government.

We have merely secured the funds from the National Treasury and we are dependent on members to deliver the facilities and to maintain them. We have therefore tried to cement a tripartite bond between my department, Sport and Recreation South Africa, the SA Sports Commission and the provincial departments responsible for sport and recreation.

I am of the opinion that co-operation between these structures will provide the best potential for success in this project. I therefore appeal to members to ensure that this project succeeds. If anything, it is the one area in which the NCOP must play a significant role to ensure success. We have worked hard to secure these resources, and cannot permit it to slip through our fingers by not delivering on our objectives.

Last year, I spoke about my intention to bring sport and recreation into the mainstream of Government efforts aimed at working for change in the country. I believe that our Building for Sport and Recreation project is aimed at doing exactly that in the context of our stated intentions regarding integrated planning and delivery.

Ours will be a concerted effort, along with those of our sister departments, to prioritise the poor and the disadvantaged, and to contribute to rural development and urban renewal. We shall be building and upgrading sport and recreation facilities in each of the provinces using labour-intensive methods in which we will engage local communities.

In the first year of the project, we shall have reached 33% of the poverty nodes identified for urgent intervention by our President, and have covered all 100% over the ensuing two years. I would like to urge members of this House to become involved in these projects in their constituencies to ensure that our investments are sound, and that the communities and, especially the rural women involved do, indeed, benefit.

I want to mention here that we have said we should cut down as much as we can on consultants. People in the areas should be the ones who do consultancy for this type of project. [Applause.]

Moreover, our people must take ownership of these facilities to guard against their being vandalised. We are also planning to have these facilities appropriately named after veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle as sport’s contribution to symbolic reparation for the suffering of our people under apartheid. Certainly we cannot name them after Abe Williams, neither can we name them after Gerald Morkel. We will name them after anti-apartheid veterans, and not just any veterans. The director for this project is sitting with us. He is a new director, Mr Solomon Phango, who will be leading this project with the provinces.

In his response to the debate on his state of-the-nation address, the President mandated the departments responsible for sport and recreation, education and arts and culture, and the National Youth Commission to design programmes that would engage the youth constructively. We have risen to that challenge and, as Sport and Recreation South Africa, we have developed a comprehensive programme that should provide many opportunities on an ongoing basis for participation in constructive activities.

We shall be involved, side by side with the National Youth Commission, as part of this initiative in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, with a substantial sports programme that, as I intimated earlier, will culminate in the rugby test between between South Africa and France on 16 June at Ellis Park.

In our broader programme we have engaged the United School Sport Association of South Africa. We have ensured, through this initiative, that we also address the problems of HIV/Aids through their love-life games. This programme will be implemented throughout the country, at the local, regional, provincial and national levels.

Again, this is one area in which co-operation between the three tiers of Government is vitally important for success. I am very happy to report that there is close co-operation between my department and the Gauteng department responsible for sport and recreation. I would like to urge other provinces to encourage similar levels of co-operation.

In the latter regard, members would agree with me that the school sport issue has remained unresolved for too long. My colleague the Minister of Education and I have come to an agreement that we shall assume joint responsibility for school sport and physical education.

The Department of Education will assume responsibility for the curricular aspects of physical education and school sport, including interschool sport at the local and, maybe, at the regional level, while Sport and Recreation South Africa will assume responsibility for representative school sport at the provincial, national and international levels. Of course, provincial departments will have to assume responsibility for the participation of their representative teams up to national level, while we and the SA Sports Commission will have to play a role at the international level.

We are still grappling with the problem of resourcing this important venture. We will have to be innovative in finding solutions to this problem. I intend calling the national school sports indaba later this year in which all stakeholders will have the opportunity to deliberate on a way forward.

I therefore call on the provinces, Ussasa, teacher unions, sports coaches - and when I say sports coaches, I also include sports coaches from the former Model C schools, because they have a tendency to keep away from these things - Sassu and even parents to assist me in making this indaba a success, and to participate in it vigorously.

The past few months have been historic for the sports movement. We have witnessed the dissolution of the National Sports Council and the handing over of the baton which they carried so successfully, along with their predecessors, Sacos, the pioneers of nonracial sport, to the SA Sports Commission.

This also implied the end of the road for the provincial affiliates of the NSC. This event certainly marked the end of an era in our sports history.

We need to pay homage to all those stalwarts, both in Sacos and NSC, who sacrificed so much to ensure that nonracial sport prevailed, and that it made the contribution that it did to the liberation of our people from the shackles of apartheid.

The dissolution of the NSC poses interesting challenges for the provinces in terms of establishing civil society structures to replace the provincial NSCs. I am aware of the efforts in some provinces to establish sport councils. This might be a possible option. I will engage with the MECs in Minmec on 25 June to try to find a common solution to the matter.

The meeting earlier this month of the SA Sports Commission’s general assembly represented another significant milestone in our sporting history. Judging from the turnout and lively debate at that forum, I am convinced that we have a winning formula that will ensure that every sportsperson in our country has access to a structure through which to make his or her voice heard. Moreover, the general assembly will serve as a watchdog that will ensure that the SA Sports Commission delivers on its mandate.

We successfully launched the South African Indigenous Games at a captivating event at a most appropriate venue, the Basotho Cultural Village in Qwaqwa in the Free State earlier this year, fulfilling a long-held desire for the President to see these activities that were facing extinction being revived. The indigenous games do not only involve more South Africans in wholesome physical activity, but also ensure that we preserve a very important part of our culture. The Eastern Cape has just launched its own chapter of the indigenous games, and I would like to encourage all other provinces that have not yet done so to follow suit.

Our athletes have started their preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester next year. Provincial academies and sports institutes have an important role to play in this project. We urge members to provide them with encouragement.

We are also looking at the South African Games, a competition that will slot into the four-year development cycle which culminates in the Olympic Games. This correlates well with the proposals of the ministerial task team for a developmental approach to international participation.

We have also witnessed the establishment of a distribution agency for allocating funds that have accrued from the National Lottery, which Tata Kgware spoke about, to nongovernmental agencies in sport and recreation. I would like to urge sports structures at all levels to access those funds to promote activities, especially in the disadvantaged areas. The distribution agency has put out a call for all proposals for the first allocation that has become available now, and has focused on the development of facilities, the supply of sports equipment and kit for all sporting codes, schools and any organisations that apply, and human resource development as priorities during the first round.

Applications closed on 31 May, but a further call will be put out as more funds become available. I am sure we will be able to talk to the Minister of Trade and Industry for those sports that have applied late, so that they can be considered, because we know that some of our sports structures do not have the capacity to write all these business plans. The SA Sports Commission is there to assist them with precisely that.

In the years 2000 and 2001, the highlight was most certainly the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games, in which our teams competed. Both the Paralympic and Olympic teams did us very proud. The Paralympic team must really be mentioned because they brought home a lot of gold medals. Our cricketers continue to enjoy success as well. They have come back from the West Indies. They have done very well. Let us leave out the dagga saga. A former DP veteran thinks that is a cool thing to do. Please, it is a shame and a scandal. [Interjections.]

An HON MEMBER: Calm down!

The MINISTER: Please talk to her. If one has children and lives in Manenberg, Mitchells Plain or another of the areas where we live, one will see that drugs are a problem. And then there is someone who then says that we should. Oh, let me rather not say anything.

The Sharks have made it to the finals of the Super 12 series. They lost to the Brumbies, but they did very well. I must also congratulate Rudolf Straeuli, the Sharks coach, on going beyond the norm and letting all those black players play all the time. They are Etienne Fynn, Ricardo Loubscher and Deon Kayser. They were stars, and it clearly shows that if one has black players in one’s side, that side will go to the final. [Laughter.] In the latter regard, we want to congratulate the Sharks and the provinces that make up the Sharks.

Bafana Bafana must be congratulated as well for their performances during the past year. They have done very well. They did us proud in the last game. Allow me also to congratulate the Buccaneers on their success in what must surely have been one of the most closely contested and most exciting league competitions of the PSL in years. Amabagabaga, Orlando Pirates! [Time expired.] [Applause.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! My interruption of the hon the Minister does not in any way express my views on Orlando Pirates. [Laughter.]

Mr D M KGWARE: Chairperson, hon Minister, hon colleagues, hon MECs, it is indeed an honour to congratulate and commend Minister Balfour and his department for reaffirming their commitment to the millions of South Africans who have, through their unrelenting endeavours, gained access to the playing fields. However, as we all know, the playing fields are still not as level as we would like them to be.

Over the last few years we have witnessed the emergence of various athletes and administrators, excelling either at provincial or at national level. The hon the Minister mentioned these and other achievements during the debate on his Budget Vote in the National Assembly. The efforts and strides these individuals have taken are, indeed, enormous, considering where we have come from and what we had to endure to get to where we are at this juncture in our sporting history. It should therefore not surprise anybody if we jealously guard and protect these achievements with all the vigour we can muster.

We have, in recent weeks, read in the media about the directives issued by the United Cricket Board of South Africa to its unions to increase the total of black players in their teams while they are actually on the playing field. We welcome this, because the practice of replacing one black player with another, week after week, as the Minister has already mentioned, does not benefit the player, and neither does it advance transformation and development.

We also welcome the decision by Sarfu to appoint only domestic coaches for our teams in the Vodacom Super 12 rugby competition next year. We welcome this, since we saw, in the last Super 12 competition, the disdain and contempt with which foreign coaches treated our own players. We have also put programmes in place to ensure that we fast-track representivity, especially in our national teams.

As a consequence of this, the question that immediately springs to my mind is whether the federations are, in fact, committed to the principles of transformation. The lack of transformation by some federations is certainly very disconcerting. Too many of our federations are still pale and male, and are stubbornly refusing to become part of the democratic culture that has taken root in the majority of federations.

I would therefore like to call upon the various provincial departments, in support of the Minister, to start playing a bigger role in monitoring the progress, or lack of it, in the federations. It is our responsibility, as public representatives and members also representing our provinces, to take a keen interest in sporting matters. They need to start programmes to ensure that these federations are monitored and audits are done, so that this can convincingly become a democratic reality. The national body should not always be the yardstick by which transformation is measured.

The most common complaint by federations is about lack of finance. We believe that federations should be more self-reliant, and not just rely on the Government as their main and only source of revenue. They should become more innovative. They should also explore the forging of ties with similar sports federations around the world, as we are living in a global village.

The Department of Sport and Recreation should also ensure that the budget allocated to federations is indeed spent frugally. If this is not happening, we strongly urge the department to withhold such funding. Also, each of the nine provincial sporting departments should have a funding policy for its federation in place, underpinned by strict criteria. It should also play a crucial role in the recreational life of its communities and especially its youth.

A glaring example of the lack of such a programme is here in the Western Cape. Since October last year, the devastating effects of murders by gangs of youths on the Cape Flats have been brought to bear on its communities. This clearly points to a lack of vision and political will to make the resources for sport and recreation available to these ravaged communities. But enough said about the Western Cape.

We also believe that the local government must have a budget for this purpose and that, in addition to the provision of basic sports facilities, they must also involve sports councils and other community-based organisations in the implementation and the sustainability of the grass- roots development programmes. We also call on the Department of Sport and Recreation to consider for financial assistance only those federations that have demonstrated a willingness to democratise.

More school sports need to be prioritised with sufficient budgets. Small sporting codes, or Cinderella sports, as they are better known, should also be provided with the space and time to develop. We further maintain that federations should also, as far as possible, endeavour to raise their own funds.

We also saw the launching and the passing of the South African Sports Commission Act. This Act provides for the establishment of the statutory body responsible for the co-ordination, promotion, development, administration and resourcing of sport and recreation. The need for the SASC arouse out of the absence of a streamlined mechanism with the responsibility for delivery and the capability of procuring additional resources for sport in addition to the Government allocation. One of the main aims of the SASC is to provide for an integrated and co- ordinated approach to sport promotion and provision, and also to ensure the continued delivery of the sports programmes of the NSC, which we know we are actually doing away with. The Department of Sport and Recreation is, at the same time, introducing new services in line with the needs of the times. The SASC certainly faces enormous tasks, and it will need our support.

The decision to have a smaller Department of Sport and Recreation alongside the SASC meant that there had to be a distinction between the roles and the definitions of the two structures.

The second challenge facing the SASC is the lack of resources. While the SASC can raise funds from the private sector, it becomes extremely difficult unless one represents the Olympic team or rugby, soccer and cricket. Sport that does not enjoy prime time television viewing, such as hockey, netball, etc, finds it difficult to attract sponsors. Despite these and other challenges the commission has faced, and will still face, significant progress has been made in establishing the machinery for sport development in our country. With these few words, I want to say that we support the Vote.

Mrs N M MADLALA (Gauteng): Chairperson, permanent members of the National Council of Provinces and delegates, at the outset, I wish to record my sincere appreciation to the Minister, Comrade Ngconde Balfour, for his efforts towards ensuring good governance in sport and recreation. Sport is a very emotive issue. Sport is reflective of the moods of society, it is reflective of the socioeconomic conditions of a country and it is reflective of the unity that prevails in the country. It is also a barometer and an indicator of change. Sport indeed is a universal language and, through South Africa’s readmittance to the international sporting arena, now projects the full image of South Africa to the world.

Noting the above, we realise the importance of Government’s role to ensure that sport in the country reflects growth, unity and representivity. Government is the enabler of the sports movement, and must ensure the full accountability of sport to its members, civil society and all other stakeholders. The framework for the governance of sports in the country is governed by the Constitution, which positions sport and recreation matters as an exclusive provincial legislative competence, articulated under Schedule 5. The enactment of the SA Sports Commission, via the SASC Act, further provides for sport to be co-ordinated and promoted in the national context.

The SA Sports Commission is therefore charged with the responsibility of fast-tracking the development of sport. This is achieved through the effective collaboration between the SA Sports Commission, provincial departments of sport and recreation and the various sport federations and recreational providers. Local government provides added support to the consolidation and growth of sport at all levels. This framework for sport delivery also takes cognisance of the autonomy of the federations within the global perspective, whilst being totally transparent, accountable and governed by its respective constitutions, giving due regard to the dictates of the supreme law of the country.

Understanding the above, the barometer at our disposal reflects a picture that says all is not well in sport and recreation. Sport does not reflect the demographics of our country, nor the provincial make-up of the various provinces. Racism, as has been noted, is still rife in sport and the pace of affirmative action is quite slow. The skewed resourcing of sport is a legacy of the past that was so entrenched, and serves as a major obstacle to change. The lack of will to fast-track change, on the part of federations, coupled with a lack of resources, makes transformation in sport a challenge for Government in all spheres, the private sector and all of civil society.

We are a long way from gender equality in sport. Whilst all sectors of society have called loudly and clearly for the gender gap to be closed with immediate haste, there is still a noticeable dragging of feet. Once again, the need for a consolidated approach is required. In the province of Gauteng, at a summit held with all stakeholders, it was resolved that women representation in key positions should constitute at least 30% of the leadership corps by the end of 2001. As Government, we must monitor the situation and ensure that federations do not renege on these decisions.

Our colonial past promoted colonial sport and games at the expense of our rich heritage of indigenous sport and games. We have a collective responsibility to address this legacy.

In this regard we wish to commend the Minister and the SA Sports Commission for the successful launch of indigenous sport and games. The launch alone will, however, not guarantee the future development and growth in this area. Greater resources and commitment are required if we are to project this rich heritage on the global stage. This will be our contribution, as the custodians of sport, to the preservation and celebration of our heritage.

The youth of this country should parade the global village as proud and confident ambassadors. They should be able to develop as complete persons with knowledge and skills. The nursery of this development lies within our schools. School sport is therefore a vital cog for the achievement of the above. Here we need to acknowledge the role of the United School Sport Association of South Africa and its army of volunteers. These are soldiers who march on in the face of extreme difficulties.

The various provincial departments of sport and recreation, and the Department of Education, should join forces to put in place meaningful programmes that will afford all children the opportunity to realise their goals and dreams. Federations have a responsibility to join forces so that the teachers and volunteers are continuously armed with relevant and up-to- date training and coaching techniques.

Sport and recreation should be governed in an open and democratic fashion. Civil society and, in particular, directly interested parties, should develop its policies and principles. Government should ensure that these policies are consistent with the laws of the country, as well as see to the enforcement of these laws.

Provincial plans for sport must take into account the challenges articulated above. Legislation at this level of government should give credence to the Constitution of the country and promote co-operative governance in sport and recreation development. Representative sport and recreation authorities should be constituted so that the voice of the sport and recreation family is formally articulated to provincial government.

The sport and recreation authorities should be democratic bodies that will interface directly with the responsible member of the executive council in the province. These authorities should be able to consolidate sport and recreation development and advise the MEC in that province on policy and related matters.

The functions and powers of such authorities should facilitate a credible voice for sport and recreation in the province, based on regular communication and interaction within this environment. All efforts should be synergistic in nature in order to complement meaningful transformation and growth.

Provincial government must take up the constitutional challenge to provide for sport and recreation in a manner that ensures accessibility, accountability and meaningful redress in the areas of affirmation of the previously disadvantaged and marginalised; in the areas that promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream sport; in the areas of the sport and recreation leadership echelon; and in the areas of provincial and national honours. Greater resources must be made available for skills development programmes, equipment and facilities for sport and recreation to propel the rate of accessibility as mentioned.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Minister for his efforts towards the development of a master plan. We are confident that the issues raised will be featured in this blueprint for sport and recreation. We must all take note of the vital role that sport can play towards the development and growth of our nation. Let us give sport a chance. [Applause.]

Mr N M RAJU: Chairperson, hon Minister, special delegates and colleagues, the creation of a separate Ministry to take charge of sport and recreation in South Africa is a clear indication of the Government’s seriousness in acknowledging that South African sportsmen and women form an integral part of the reconstruction of our society and nation-building.

Since ancient times, the Greeks have played a significant role in putting sport to work for national pride. The Greeks gave us the Olympic Games, which have endured till the present time.

Today, South Africa stands on the threshold of great and exciting times ahead in the international arena. In games such as soccer, cricket, tennis, swimming, athletics and golf we are world-class. In the lesser codes, we are getting there. The hon the Minister has been more eloquent in paying tribute to some of our star individuals and teams that have brought us international recognition and pride. We join him today in saluting those victorious ambassadors of our country.

But the advent of professionalism has marred the physiognomy of South African sport - not only South African sport, but international sport as well. The lure of the dollar has contaminated every sporting code in every form, be it aspects of administration, the form of the government entity, the sportspersons themselves or the sponsors. Many negatives have spread like tentacles of a poisonous nettle, affecting the wholesome administration and performances that the original founding fathers of the Olympic Games had imagined and anticipated.

I shall refrain from dwelling on some of these insidious aspects of sport. I am not going to talk about the aura of impurity that surrounds so many codes of sport, both nationally and internationally. If our Government is serious about putting South Africa on the map of international sport, then we must ensure that our high-profile administrators come up with the goods. My colleague in the National Assembly, Mr Donald Lee, raised concerns about missing moneys or moneys not accounted for in certain codes. I am sure that the Minister is aware of the different instances of such misdemeanours. However, this is an area of serious concern.

Maladministration and improper bookkeeping and accountability, à la Alan Boesak, must never characterise the way the Sport and Recreation budget is administered in this country. We cannot allow a situation where the Minister’s good intentions and the Ministry’s priorities for sport and recreation are sabotaged by administrators and individuals who evince an inflated sense of their own importance and, instead of being instrumental in ensuring that sponsorship moneys and other resources intended for the sportsmen, women and teams representing the country are properly disbursed, end up instead with those moneys in personal bank accounts. In short, these misguided administrators put themselves above the teams and individuals that they are supposed to be taking care of. Such reprehensible acts by administrators, managers and coaches are tantamount to sabotage. The sports Ministry itself must carry the responsibility of carefully identifying personnel and selecting those individuals for important high- profile appointments. Obviously, individuals with the penchant for self- enrichment must be declared nonstarters.

The hon Minister Balfour’s intentions have been made clear. One has to recognise the importance of the recently held conference on antidoping in sport, for instance. He is someone who means business. We applaud the hon the Minister on the initiative taken and the proactive stance that he has adopted in this regard.

There is no doubt that this hon Minister, thanks to his charismatic profile, has raised the consciousness of sport in this country across the political spectrum in the minds of all South Africans. We recognise and pay tribute to his serious attitude adopted in this regard.

Sport and recreation are building blocks in building a nation, and we must pause here and reflect on the profound weight of this statement. My party has no problem with such a noble vision and mission for the Ministry of Sport and Recreation. Sport is not for recreation and entertainment only; building a united nation is an absolute imperative.

However, if equity is to be established and restored, then access to facilities by mostly the hitherto marginalised and impoverished sector must be considered a prerequisite, a sine qua non, in realising the goals set out by the Ministry of Sport and Recreation. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr L S GABELA (KwaZulu-Natal): Chairperson, hon Minister, MECs and members present …

… mangiqale ngokuzwakalisa okukhulu ukubonga kuNgqongqoshe ekutheni nathi baKwaZulu-Natali asincome ngomsebenzi owenziwayo esifundazweni sakithi. Nakuba kunjalo, ngifuna ukusho futhi ukuthi mningi umsebenzi okusafanele wenziwe ngoba yize noma kukhona leyo mithonseyana yokuhle okwenzekayo kepha izinto kazihambi kahlehle.

Kwi-portfolio ye-education and culture yesishayamthetho saKwaZulu-Natali sesike sakhuluma kabanzi ngodaba lokuthi, emkhakheni wezemidlalo, enye into esilimazayo ukuthi lo Mnyango usuke ungene ngaphansi komkhakha ophethe izindaba zezemfundo, ezamasiko, ezokugcinwa kwemvelo njalo njalo. Umuntu uye athole ukuthi lo msebenzi ugcina usuphathwa ngendlela yokuthi ezingeni eliphezulu kube yizinga likamqondisi nje kuphela. Lokho kudala ukuthi umsebenzi uphazamiseke. Engingakusho nje ukuthi enye into esikhathazayo ukuthi kwayena mqondisi ndini lowo kumanje nje waze wamiswa emsebenzini ngezinsolo zokukhwabanisa.

Ikhona-ke imizamo eyenziwayo futhi miningi. Kepha-ke umkhankaso wokuthi kube khona ushintsho ngokuphelele, njengalokhu sisebenza ngaphansi kwesimo esisha, awukaphumeleli kodwa kusephakathi njengalokhu ohlelweni lwezemidlalo sinoMnyango obhekene nezemidlalo ngaphakathi ezikoleni ngokunjalo noMnyango obhekene nezemidlalo ngaphandle kwezikole. Konke lokhu kunenhloso yokuzama ukuthi ibe khona impumelelo.

Ezemidlalo ziyenzeka ezikoleni kodwa inkinga ekhona ukuthi labo abaphumelelayo, umuntu agcina esebabona sebesezingeni eliphezulu futhi baze bagcine sebengene nasemaqenjini esifundazwe okungaba ngawekhilikithi noma ebhola lombhoxo, labo bantu ikakhulukazi kusuke kungabantu abaqhamuka ezikoleni zo-Model C. Abekho abantu abasuke bengumkhiqizo wezikole zabantu abahluphekayo ngempela. Lokho kusho ukuthi usemningi umsebenzi okufanele wenziwe.

Siyoludinga kakhulu usizo lukaNgqongqoshe ekutheni kwelekelelwe isifundazwe ngobuchule bezokuphatha umsebenzi wezemidlalo, nanokuthi kutshalwe ngokubhekela isikhathi eside emakhonweni abantu abasakhula, futhi kube khona uhlelo olulandelekayo lokuthi igcine ivelele kwezemidlalo neKwaZulu- Natali. Isifundazwe saKwaZulu-Natali siyinkinga nje eyaziwayo kwezemidlalo. (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)

[… I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for congratulating us in KwaZulu-Natal on the work we have done in our province. However, there is still a lot of work to be done because even though there are some good things, the situation is still not right.

In the ministry of education and culture of the province, we mentioned that sports matters are crippled by the fact that sports fall under the department of education, culture and nature conservation, etc. One finds that this task is performed only at director-general level. This disturbs the work. Another thing that worries us is that even the director-general was stopped, because he was linked to misappropriation.

However, many attempts are being made, although there has not been a full campaign since we started working under new conditions. We are still in the middle of the work since in the plans for sports we have a department that focuses on sports in schools as well as a department that focuses on sports outside schools. All this is an attempt to bring about success.

Sports are being performed in schools, but the problem is that those who succeed, those who climb the ladder of success and who end up in big teams in the province, which could be rugby or cricket, usually are the people from Model C schools. There are no players who are the product of poor people. This means that there is still a lot of work to be done.

We are going to need the Minister’s assistance in helping the province on how best to manage the area of sports and in investing in the skills of young people and developing a followable plan to ensure that these young people become achievers in sports in KwaZulu-Natal. The province of KwaZulu- Natal is clearly a problematic province when it comes to sports.]

If I could just make a reference to soccer, each time the season comes to an end we know that there is a team from KwaZulu-Natal that will not be in the PSL for the next season, which is a serious problem for the province.

KwaZulu-Natal has legends: The caretaker coach of Mamelodi Sundowns, the Mkheleles, the Sizwe Motaungs, the Junior Njiyelas, the Prof Ngubanes - one of the respected administrators in South Africa, now with Manning Rangers - Penny Heyns, and many others. The problem is that for most of our people to succeed they have to leave the province. It is a problem for us. I think we do need some assistance. We have legends like Roger Sedwick, for instance. We have him there, but we do have problems. This means that we require much assistance. Well, of course, there is a greater challenge on the part of Government to play a role in seeing to it that the problems that we face as a province, as a whole, are addressed.

Let me also raise an issue about the Cricket World Cup that is coming to South Africa. I would like to say to the Minister that we share the concerns. I know the Minister is working very hard. Some of the people who are with us in the movement are part of the committee he met yesterday. I have been briefed on the deliberations of that meeting. Let us indicate that while we may be angry with the United Cricket Board of SA, we will not support a situation in which people go out and lobby India not to come to participate. We do not support that.

We have a problem in KwaZulu-Natal concerning the Chatsworth grounds. They are the only cricket grounds in an area of the previously disadvantaged. There is none other. When we were … [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr H T SOGONI: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, MECs, special delegates, officials of the department and members, I support and welcome the Budget Vote as presented by the hon the Minister to the House this morning. I also take this opportunity to debate the subject of sport in the new political dispensation and atmosphere sport played a significant role in bringing about. Boycotts and campaigns to discredit sport in the country were some of the peaceful means that sent a clear message to our fellow countrymen and to the world that all was not well.

In terms of the South African Sports Commission Act of 1998, the department shares responsibilities with the SA Sports Commission. The extensive briefing of the Select Committee on Education and Recreation by both the department and the commission has assisted in giving clarity, and in providing explanations and additional information on the roles of the two bodies.

It is important to note that in the briefing to the select committee the commission acknowledged its major obstacle - the inadequate resources it has inherited. The commission is equally conscious of another challenge: the difficulty of securing sponsorships from the private sector or persuading businesses to put funds where they are most needed.

I raise this because we should accept that the question of funding of sport in South Africa, in order to transform it in such a manner that all provinces and all sections of our community benefit equally, is very critical to the department and the commission. This is particularly the case because sport impacts hugely on the development of the country.

South Africa’s image as a world-class competitor continues to grow. The status of individual sportspeople has, equally, improved. Outstanding performers have achieved international recognition and made South Africa proud. The lifestyle of successful men and women in sport is dramatically changing, because sport is becoming an occupation, a career, that should adequately address issues of unemployment, poverty and economic development, one of the main objectives that the department pursues.

To achieve success in these endeavours, therefore, the significance of public-private partnerships in the promotion of sport cannot be overemphasised. After all, both parties benefit equally from the joint venture. This is the route that most, if not all, successful sporting countries in the world follow. I am also appreciative of the process of streamlining the department by phasing out the regional structures in our province, the Eastern Cape, and decentralising services to the districts where the clients are. This is a positive step because it brings the activities of the department closer to the people. The process, however, is raising concerns among some of the department’s officers. They fear that the downgrading of the department is a threat to their jobs. Perhaps the Minister may give some light on whether there is any justification for such fears.

To conclude, adequate distribution of resources and provision of infrastructure in the rural areas remains the greatest challenge. There are sports that were previously dominant in white areas, whose equipment is also unaffordable. The situation, in my view, still leaves the only option to open black communities to develop and refine only what they have and can afford, while remaining deprived of the opportunities to participate in other sports of their choice and ability. [Time expired.] [Applause.] Ms H H MALGAS (Eastern Cape): Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members of the NCOP, comrades, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to speak on the policy debate on Budget Vote No 18 on Sport and Recreation of the hon the Minister, Comrade N Balfour, on behalf of the MEC Miss M Bhalindlela of the Eastern Cape.

In the Eastern Cape we have just emerged from a year that provided many challenges and successes. The year ahead poses its own set of challenges and opportunities. Each year we try to achieve a little more to improve on how we do things, and to reach more communities in our province. That is how we see improving service delivery. As our Government grows and develops, we cannot rest on the laurels of past successes. We need to seek out new challenges of delivering more services, and to do so better, to more people and more places.

The Department of Sport and Recreation is more than ready to take up the challenges posed. Our department has embraced a vision of a united and peaceful Eastern Cape where the spiritual, intellectual and material upliftment of the people are fully realised through sport and recreation.

The budget allocated to the department as a whole is R176,794 million, and that represents the largest amount so far given to the department. I know that the Minister knows that when it comes to the department of the Eastern Cape, we will have arts and culture, too, in that budget.

Looking at the challenges and opportunities for 2001-02, the biggest issue facing the department is utilising their line functions to address the problem of poverty and its manifestations in our province. ``A better life for all,’’ is no longer a slogan, but a cornerstone of the policies of the department. The issue confronting all our managers is how they manage this budget in their respective line functions.

When it comes to the challenge facing us, to begin with we are targeting service delivery and accountability. These need to be achieved efficiently, effectively and economically, as required by the Public Finance Management Act and the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service.

Our next challenge is restructuring. The executive council of our province has identified the need for service delivery through the restructuring of the social needs department, with social welfare, education, health, sport and arts and culture combined in the same cluster.

This is in alignment with the new municipal demarcation. The new structure has 24 districts. We have allocated R37,8 million for the running of sport and recreation within the districts. We have decreased the budget of the previous year by R28,65 million and hope this will take service delivery closer to the communities. We gave all that money to the districts, and hope the Minister is pleased with our decision, because we want the money nearer to our communities.

To promote co-operative governance with the national and local spheres, we are working together with local government, district municipalities and nodal points as directed in the President’s speech of 9 February 2001, the hon the Minister’s speech previously in the National Assembly and today in this House. Our district managers have the specific mandate to dovetail their activities with those of the local authorities where they are situated.

Through co-operation and an integrated service delivery improvement plan, our cluster’s improved service delivery in our province lies in making the cluster work and integrating service delivery not only within the department but also between the provincial departments and the different spheres of government.

I would like to come to a few individual programmes. For poverty alleviation funding, we received R7,7 million from the national department. We will use this money successfully to construct multipurpose sports facilities, like fields and buildings. The nodal points within our different municipalities will be located at Cofimvaba - I am going to struggle with this name. An HON MEMBER: Cofimvaba.

Ms H H MALGAS: Thank you. I am going to struggle, so I just have to look at my page.

We are giving R500 000 to those areas. Mount Fletcher, Tsolo, Ntabankulu and Mqanduli will each get R796 000. The facilities I mentioned are designed to include access for the disabled.

HIV/Aids is rife in the schools and communities of our province. They are statistics without names. We will be using sport and recreation as a vehicle in our awareness campaigns in the following nodal points: Lady Frere, Mount Fletcher, Ntabankulu, Motherwell and Mdantsane. Each area will receive R50 000.

Sport, as we know is an integral part of our society, especially in the Eastern Cape, where we have a long and proud tradition of producing top achievers like our Minister.

The department recognises the potential of sport as a nation-building agent. Moreover, sport has the inherent ability to touch a large number of our citizens. As in the previous year, the department will continue to deliver quality sports services ranging from coaching to material support to our communities.

I will now touch on individual programmes. The Minister mentioned one. On Saturday 19 May we had our indigenous and traditional games at Flagstaff, and for that event the department gave R70 000. I am sorry that Mr Ackermann is not here. [Interjections.] Is he behind me? We had stick- fighting and …

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Order! Hon member, please address the Chair and not Mr Ackermann.

Ms H H MALGAS: Madam Chair, I am sorry. [Laughter.]

One can see I come from the Eastern Cape, we are unruly when it comes to heckling. [Laughter.] That, I hope will take things further.

A sum of R80 000 was received for talent identification in school sport. The province will hold school sport development games in Aliwal North.

I would also like to mention that we will have events preparing our athletes in the 16-to-18 age group as a build-up to provincial, South African and Olympic Games to monitor school sports. I am reading from the chairperson’s notes.

Athletes from farm schools will participate in a national farm schools festival. The Minister, when he visited the Eastern Cape, gave us a few pointers on what to look at. We were concerned about school sport. We made a recommendation to our department saying that the department, in conjunction with the department of education, should work out a policy that governs school sport. We hope to have that policy by July 2001.

We also looked at children’s activities in crèches and preschools. As hon members know, school sport is the nursery of sport itself. We felt it was very important that there should be an integrated, cluster approach to activities in our social needs structure where matters are linked to welfare. Our department of sport is leading, followed by the department of health.

We asked our department to initiate youth activities and to link them to the premier’s office.

When it comes to women in sport, there is a special programme looking at the interests of the youth, women and the disabled. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr A E VAN NIEKERK: Chairperson, the best public relations officer ever for sport in South Africa was the previous President of South Africa, President Nelson Mandela.

In 1995 he united a very divided South Africa in a single moment when he congratulated the Springbok rugby world champions and rejoiced with them. When he appeared on the rugby field wearing a Springbok captain’s number 6 jersey, a miracle of unification really started happening in South Africa.

We all realise the bridge-building power of the Amabhokobhoko, Bafana Bafana, Amakroko-kroko and the Amaglug-glug and we must keep on promoting this process through the instrument of sport. We must build on it.

The hon the Minister is doing his utmost and is succeeding in many respects, although we will never be able to fit him into a number 6 jersey. [Laughter.] Maybe, when we are the champions again, we can try and get him a number 1, 2 or 3 jersey, and I hope he will still fit into that.

I hope the hon the Minister realises now that he misread the previous debate completely. But I understand why it happened! It is because he is not in this House so often. It really sounded like an election rally, as if he was canvassing for candidates. I excuse the Minister for that. Actually I think we should have given the Minister a red card, but we did not. [Laughter.]

In an era in which the importance of sports to national issues, such as nation-building, is being recognised, and in which big fortunes stand to be made by outstanding sportsmen and sportswomen, in which the potential exists for all talented people to participate and make it big in the world of sport, we need to pose a serious question to ourselves: How equipped is our sporting talent to fulfil their real potential? If they are not well enough equipped, how can administrators facilitate the attainment of this goal?

Are we as politicians, or as administrators, in a position to criticise the athletes for not always living up to our expectations? Our country’s sporting image, regrettably, is repeatedly tainted by one unfortunate incident after the other. We had the match-fixing scandal in cricket, we had a tennis boss calling one of our country’s most successful tennis players, and someone who is indeed doing something for the development of the sport, too white to be a role model.

We had our players in our national cricket team smoking dagga in the West Indies, and now being mocked as the Amadagga-dagga. [Laughter.] We have the allegations of corruption that are being levelled against the top ASA officials and then we have the decision by ASDA’s selectors not to include athletes in the squad for the World Athletics Championships later this year, because, at 25 years of age, they are deemed to be old, disregarding their performances. [Interjections.]

Are we doing enough to develop the enormous potential of our athletes in South Africa? As long as we continue to racialise, to politicise and to maladministrate our sport in this country, I can assure hon members, we will continue to face the above negatives in sport for quite a long time to come. [Interjections.] Why are our teams and athletes, with the exception of a few, not delivering the performances we know they can? The answer is simple: We do not invest enough in our sportsmen and sportswomen.

Investment amounts to more than the mere availability of funds for development programmes in sport alone. It also implies a responsibility on the part of our sports Ministry to see to it that these funds are correctly applied. It implies that our athletes should be the ones who benefit, not the administrators alone. It also implies investment in a holistic approach.

Daarom verwelkom ons die kreatiewe wyse waarop die krieketraad gister vir Herschelle Gibbs gestraf het. Ek is oortuig dat die verpligting om terapie in sosiale en professionele vaardighede te ondergaan nie net vir hom goed is nie, maar ook ‘n voorbeeld stel vir die duisende jong mense vir wie hy ‘n rolmodel is.

Ons moet die ondersteuners van ons sport nooit vergeet nie. Hulle veiligheid en gerief moet na omgesien word. Ook ons skoolsport, en ek dank die Minister vir wat hy reeds aangekondig het daaroor, is uiters belangrik. Daar word nie genoeg aandag aan ons amateursport gegee nie, en dit is die voedingsbron vir ons groot suksesse vorentoe.

Die nuwe Suid-Afrika het geleenthede geskep wat vir so baie mense in die ou Suid-Afrika ontneem was. Soveel swartmense is geleenthede vir deelname, provinsiaal, nasionaal, en uit die aard van die saak, internasionaal, ontneem. Dit moet nou reggestel word.

Ten slotte wil ek vir u en die Huis vertel van Bennie Oldewage, ‘n kind wat ‘n asmalyer was. Hy was daar uit die Noord-Kaap, uit Prieska se wêreld. Bennie het om gesondheidsredes met gewigte begin oefen op die plaas. Hy het so ontwikkel dat hy, gedurende die eerste nasionale kompetisie in gewigoptel waarin hy gaan deelneem het, al die rekords geslaan het in daardie ouderdom en gewigsgrens. Hy het toe selfs in senior kategorieë deelgeneem.

Hy het later ‘n Springbok geword. Daar is nou nog wêreldrekords van hom wat staan, maar Bennie Oldewage kon nooit aan die Olimpiese Spele deelneem nie omdat apartheid daar was. [Tussenwerpsels.] Omdat hy geraak is deur die sanksies wat op sport van toepassing was, kon hy nie daar deelneem nie. Dit is net so ‘n onreg as die onreg wat swartmense aangedoen is in die apartheidstyd om nie te kon deelneem nie.

Bennie Oldewage … [Tyd verstreke.] [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[We therefore welcome the creative manner in which the cricket board penalised Herschelle Gibbs yesterday. I am convinced that the obligation to undergo therapy in social and professional skills is not only good for him, but also sets an example to the thousands of young people for whom he serves as a role model.

We must never forget the supporters of our sport. Their safety and comfort must be seen to. This includes our school sport, and I thank the Minister for what he has already announced in this regard, which is extremely important. Not enough attention is devoted to our amateur sport and this is the source of our future major successes.

The new South Africa created opportunities that so many people were deprived of in the old South Africa. So many black people were denied opportunities to participate provincially, nationally and, of course, internationally. This must now be rectified.

In conclusion I want to tell you and the House of Bennie Oldewage, who was an asthma sufferer. He hailed from the Northern Cape region, the Prieska area. For health reasons Bennie started training with weights on the farm. He developed to such a degree that, in the first national weight-lifting competition in which he participated, he broke all the records in his age and weight groups. He then even participated in senior categories.

He later became a Springbok. There are world records of his that still stand, but Bennie Oldewage could never participate in the Olympic Games because of apartheid. [Interjections.] Because he was affected by the sanctions against sport that were in force he could not participate. This is just as much an injustice as that which black people suffered because they could not participate during the apartheid era.

Bennie Oldewage … [Time expired.] [Applause.]]

Mr E COLEMAN (KwaZulu-Natal): Mr Chairperson, hon Minister, colleagues and people present, I have taken a few facts from the provincial plan, which I would like to tell you about. In KwaZulu-Natal, sport is part of the department of education and culture. The education department is demarcated into eight regions, and the sports section is led by an assistant director. The assistant directors are headed by the Chief Director, Dr E Khanyile.

Sadly, due to financial restraints, the staff complement of the directorate is 35 officials. This is for serving the entire province. Structures for sport and recreation have also been put in place. Many sport and recreation festivals and events are organised. Senior citizens, inmates in prison and street children are catered for by all regions. They organise mass participation recreation events. The Masidlale Festival was initiated in Port Shepstone last year, and it attracted up to 3 000 people in one weekend with at least 80% actively participating in the festival.

In some districts there were old women who assembled early in the morning to participate in a fun run. In order to ensure gender equality, all regions have the provincial women in sport committees in place for Women and Sport SA. All regions ensure, when running courses, that at least 40% of the participants are women.

During the year self-defence workshops were held in the Ladysmith and South Durban regions. For the first time in our province, a group of 15 women qualified as soccer referees. A walking programme for young girls and women was launched last year, and many of them will be participating in the Spar 10 km Women’s Challenge on 1 July.

The sports facilities in the province will, for many years to come, need attention. R3,9 million has been allocated to KwaZulu-Natal. We thank the National Treasury and the Minister of Sport and Recreation for the amount, and we look forward to a bigger slice in years to come.

Our premier sports award function is an annual event, and it is a big event in the province. This will take place on Wednesday, 13 June. At this function we honour those sportpersons who have distinguished themselves in the field of sport. Awards are made on the basis of achievements at provincial, national and international levels. Besides participants, administrators, coaches, technical officials and the media are given recognition. Those who have never been recognised before are awarded lifetime achievement awards.

One of the sad items to report, though, is when we complete sports facilities and they are vandalised, as was the case this week. The sports facility was completed and lights were installed around the soccer field. On Tuesday, when I went along to have a look, two of the poles had been cut down and the lights from the top had both been taken away.

An HON MEMBER: Shame.

Mr E COLEMAN (KwaZulu-Natal): Chairman, for those who are not interested in sport: Yes, it is a shame to see lights valued at about R10 000 not there any more. Then one goes into the rural areas where they have these sport venues which have been put up, and one looks and sees no lines around the field. They cannot afford to pay for whitewash.

These are some of the sad things that make the people who have taken part in sport look on and think: We should be doing a little bit more to try and revive the sport. I have taken part in sport for many years, and our Minister quoted something which I thought was something to bear in mind. It has to do with the smaller sports, for instance table tennis. In 1994, the world body allowed three or four Swedish players to come and take part in a tour of the country. Since then, sad to say, there has been no choice, but our possibly five top players and six or eight officials have gone and attended the world championships.

Now, we talk about going to areas and, surely, one or two of those players are getting hammered in most cases anyway. Could they not stay at home? Let us bring out the Japanese and the Chinese, the professionals of the sport, and imagine them touring parts of KwaZulu-Natal, places like Eshowe and all parts of the country in the rural areas. Imagine what it would do for this sport! If we send 10 people to Portugal and five people to Mauritius, who actually benefits from that, especially in this ball sport?

I would ask the Minister, when he looks at those budgets that come before him, to bear this in mind, because after 35 years the administration in table tennis needs attention, and I can talk a little bit of what I know. I am sure there are other sports to be treated possibly the same.

Where development is the key, we have 1 000 players playing. Would not it be great in five years time to say that there are 30 000 playing now? That is our problem. We are concentrating on those very few supposed champions who really, in most cases, are a waste of time anyway, because they have not reached the standard required.

I would just like to say that I am a newcomer to Parliament. [Laughter.] Maybe, maybe not. I have only been around for six or nine months, but definitely, I will be a key watcher of the sports facilities, especially in KwaZulu-Natal. I will obviously be keeping in touch with the Minister and making sure that things improve.

One of the things that were quite interesting to note even this week, although it might be a small little item, is that the KwaZulu-Natal finance committee agreed, for the first time, to earmark the money statements that they bring out each month. They are now going to have education, sports and arts and culture. Now we will be able to see where that money is going.

Personally I am very keen to see where that money is going. I want to see where the Baptists are. Are they going into that area and doing the coaching which they should be doing? Are the Doctor Khumalos, the greats of soccer, going out into the areas? Are they doing the work which should be done? Sad to say, I doubt it. [Applause.]

Mr C ACKERMANN: Chairperson, on a point of order: Can I raise a point of order? It is a very serious one.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Yes, hon member, raise it.

Mr C ACKERMANN: Chairperson, on a point of order: You can see that according to the speakers’ list Mr Williams was to have participated in this debate. He is the chairperson of the Western Cape education, environment and cultural affairs committee. It was announced over the radio this morning that five people had been killed in Marine Drive.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): But what is the point of order? The list that I have does not include Mr Williams.

Mr C ACKERMANN: Chairperson, I just want to inform the House why Mr Williams is not participating, and I thought I could do it by way of a point of order.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! Mr van Niekerk, I do not think that is a point of order. That is a matter for the Whips to deal with. We do not want to encroach on Whippery matters. I am following the speakers’ list before me.

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Chairperson, I have indicated through the table staff that Mr Williams’ family members, I think his niece and his daughter, were quite critically hurt in the collision, and that he would be excused, and Mrs Witbooi would be speaking on his behalf. So the Whippery has done what is necessary, and we are seriously concerned, as he is, about their welfare. The information that Mr Ackermann wishes to convey has, in fact, been conveyed through the Table to the Chairperson, and the Minister has been alerted as well.

Mrs J WITBOOI: Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, please allow me to render the apology of the MEC for sport and recreation in the Western Cape for his absence due to other urgent commitments. Therefore it is indeed an honour and a privilege for me to address this Budget Vote on his behalf.

Let me start off by thanking the national Minister of Sport and Recreation and his department for the work they are doing at national level. We, in the Western Cape, are in total agreement with the view of the Minister that sport can be used to build a nation and accelerate change.

Indeed, as the Minister indicated in his budget speech, the youth form an integral part of the building of the nation. We, in the Western Cape, have realised this fact. We are engaging in a number of activities on Youth Day to celebrate the cause of youth and to attract them to the cause of nation- building.

The provincial department will therefore host the following events on Youth Day: Youth Day sport and recreation festivals at Worcester, Plettenberg Bay, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn, and Hartenbos, as well as a community sports day in Ocean View. The Pedro Page memorial soccer tournament will also be held at Parkwood.

There is absolutely no doubt that sport has to take its place in the struggle to transform South Africa and build our nation. I think our national Minister will agree with me when I say that it is not enough to ensure representivity at the highest levels of sport, like the national hockey and Springbok sides.

The key here is what underpins that high-profile representivity. Are these sports, which show representivity at the top levels, transformed in their operations and committed to the building of clubs and structures in all communities? Have they truly embraced the concepts of nonracialism and democracy?

It is no good if we are merely happy, and if there are more blacks in a team. The issue of transformation is a more fundamental one. It goes beyond a mere number scale. These are the hard questions which need to be asked beyond the few opportunities for high-profile sportspersons.

If we fail to ask these questions, we cannot be said to be engaged in transforming our society. I am also looking forward to a formal report from the ministerial task team which will outline the full roles and responsibilities of all who are involved in the preparation of our athletes.

But it is my considered view that no amount of reorganisation and restructuring can detract from the fact that South Africa will never produce the performance we desired as long as our participation levels remain as low as they are.

Therefore, I was disappointed to see that the vision of the SA Sports Commission was ``to lead South Africa to sporting excellence,’’ whilst we know that this will never happen, unless there is an emphasis and focus on participation.

I trust that the task team will honestly look at these questions to ensure a proper model which can produce peak performances with a clear placement of roles and responsibilities.

In the Western Cape, we are busy with the establishment of the Western Cape sports forum. Through this forum, civil society will work in tandem with its Government agencies to ensure the delivery of sport to all in the region. Indeed, this forum will be the voice of civil society, and will act as a platform to ensure that ordinary sportspeople in the Western Cape have the leverage to raise issues with Government.

Only a truly symbiotic relationship between Government and society can set the correct framework for advancement. We will not merely raise our voices if not enough blacks are in a team. Instead, we should focus on what actually goes on in our federations. The fact that a team has a significant number of black players in it does not mean that it has been transformed.

The Western Cape is also in agreement with the view that sport funding should be prioritised. We need look no further than the American model of sport funding to see that their success in sports like athletics, baseball, American football and basketball is the result of a strategic and prioritised approach.

In the Western Cape, we have taken into account, as our main thrust, the fact that we want more of our citizens to play sport and hence we have chosen five sporting codes for special growth potential over the next three years in our province. These are football, athletics, volleyball, basketball and softball. Secondary focal points are netball, baseball, swimming, hockey and boxing.

It is only via a sustained strategically focused approach that we will be able to attain our goal of getting the nation to play. From a sustained participation platform such as this, we will be able to debate the question of performance, and the advances in this regard.

To this end, the Western Cape’s department of sport and recreation will be entering into performance agreements with these codes of sports that should have definitive outcomes.

I want to thank the Minister and his department. There is also much appreciation for the work being done in terms of the poverty relief funds for the building of facilities across the length and breadth of our country. I want to give the Minister an assurance of the Western Cape’s support in this regard.

I am also glad to note that school sport is now finally occupying the spotlight which is due to this important sector. As the Minister indicated in his budget speech, this is a sector which needs to have clearly defined partners in Government. At a provincial level we have a fairly clear idea of where we want to take the process, and the Western Cape has recently completed a draft school sport policy document for discussion.

This will soon go out to our provincial cabinet for formal adoption. I am glad to say that we have drafted this policy in collaboration with all the stakeholders in our province. I therefore welcome the decision of the Minister to call a school sport indaba for all stakeholders to deliberate on the way forward.

The indigenous games project represents another milestone in the annals of South African sporting history. In the Western Cape we have grabbed this project, and we are pushing full steam ahead, with sustained training being given in all seven games identified to a variety of communities. We look forward to the roll-out of the national games in this regard, and the Western Cape is looking at following the lead of the Eastern Cape to try to open its own chapter. May I add my words of sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives in the Ellis Park stadium tragedy. This tragic event has to serve as a wake-up call to all of us, and I want to ask the Minister to pass on my province’s thanks to the President and the Cabinet for the speed and dignity with which they have handled this difficult matter, and appointed a commission of inquiry. We look forward to its recommendations.

Meanwhile, the Western Cape has already begun to call all stakeholders in the province together to start to look at the question of disaster management at sports stadiums in this province. Let us never again have to stand here before this House debating an issue of this nature.

It would be remiss of me not to comment on the recent events in cricket as they pertain to our province, especially since three of the top players from our province were involved and fined.

I want to appeal to the Minister to assist in putting in place mentoring programmes for our top athletes, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. By this, I do not mean sport mentoring. I mean life mentoring, guidance about choices, and clear values-building and awareness of responsibilities. This is a matter that the Western Cape is seriously considering taking up with our provincial sports federations via the Western Cape Sports Academy.

When our athletes step out onto the field of play, they carry our hopes, dreams and aspirations. They also carry on their shoulders the burden of responsibility to conduct themselves in a manner befitting the lofty positions which they occupy. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr B J MKHALIPHI: Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, presumably, most of us at one stage or another have been involved in some sport or leisure. In those instances, we had to observe certain rules.

I am reading here a list of some attributes of fair play. Among other things, it calls on players to be sober when entering the field of play. I repeat, it calls on players to be sober when entering the field of play. [Laughter.]

Among other things, it also demands that players play games according to their rules, and accept that a referee’s decision is final. The purpose of play is to entertain, and not to tackle, maim or cripple one’s opponents. Lastly, it also says that players must not leave the field of play without the referee’s consent. [Laughter.]

Playing is also about recreation, but then, at the end of the day, the winners are not necessarily the victors, or the heroes. We could have winners who would be seen as villains, and those are the people who will not accept defeat gracefully, with composure, and all that sport calls upon them to do.

Let me extend my congratulations to and commend the Minister for his unwavering commitment and unselfish contribution, and for his efforts at levelling the playing fields which have benefited millions of South Africans. Political developments since 1992 laid the foundation for sports federations in South Africa to become democratic and, indeed, instruments of change. These developments also led to the transformation of the National Olympic Committee of SA, as well as the National Sports Council, as macro bodies for sport in the country.

The integration of the racially based sports organisations in South Africa reflected, or rather epitomised more generally, the changes in South African society, and became a tool for challenging the deeply ingrained divisions within civil society. Some federations, however, have found the steps required to complete transformation too big for them. It is common knowledge that certain federations, some of which are rurally based, continue to exclude black sportspeople from either their management structures, participation or access to facilities.

The hon Minister Balfour, in his budget speech in the National Assembly, issued a stern warning to these federations and administrators who refuse to adapt to the principles of transformation and development. There is ample evidence to support these claims. One such example is the attitude of rugby unions in Gauteng and the Northern Bulls rugby club, whose administrators still vote on colour lines in order to prevent administrators of colour from coming into their respective executives. This they do in the guise of using their majority vote to achieve their racist objectives. By so doing they undermine not only the spirit of transformation, but also that of nation-building.

Let me add, though, that this phenomenon is not unique to rugby. I am also convinced that the conference on transformation later this year, as suggested by the Minister, will provide us with a barometer of transformation across the sport spectrum.

In conclusion, let me hastily add that the perception of sport transformation in the country, as epitomised by my hon member Mrs Witbooi, leaves much to be desired. I would also add that she has displayed an urgent need for a series of intense workshops on the subject. [Applause.]

Mr M W MFEBE (Free State) Mr Chairperson, hon Minister, hon delegates, I feel extremely nostalgic taking part in this debate for the first time in four years. I left these corridors of national power after I had served as a member of both the National Assembly and Constitutional Assembly for three years. In my time there was nothing called the DA, which is a forced marriage between two strange bedfellows, the New NP and the DP.

When I watch television back home and sometimes when I come here, I realise that they are solely responsible for the highest levels of political noise pollution in both Chambers of Parliament. Perhaps the President needs to give me a chance to come back and just do a political environmental impact study … [Laughter.] … in order to recycle the political waste of the DA into a useful product that will enhance debate in both Houses of Parliament, to benefit the country within and outside our borders.

However, for now, allow me to join colleagues in giving undivided support to our Minister in his Budget Vote. Our support for the Minister is support for our Government, which was democratically elected by the people of this country. Our support for our democratically elected Government is support for the very people who put this Government in power.

As the MEC responsible for sport in the Free State, allow me to raise issues pertinent to the Free State, covering the following areas: the provincial plan for sport, school sport, gender equality, racism and indigenous sport. Our provincial plan for sport is informed by two imperatives, the constitutional and policy imperatives. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa places the area of provincial sport as an exclusive competence of provinces.

In order to carry out our exclusive constitutional mandate, we in the Free State have, through the participation of all stakeholders, developed and adopted a Free State Provincial White Paper on Sport and Recreation. Although this policy is being implemented on an ongoing basis, we have realised that we need a scientific approach to the implementation of this policy so that we can have scientific information for decision-making and be able to quantify the tangible benefits for our people.

We have enlisted help from our international friends, in this case the Flemish government in Belgium, with whom we have set up a project of co- operation which is within the framework agreement between the South African and Flemish governments. This project of co-operation covers four implementation programmes, namely the strategic plans, education and training programmes, the Flemish-Free State Sport Scholarship Fund and the exchange of athletes.

The primary objective of the programme on the implementation of the strategic plan is to carry out a strategic analysis of the White Paper on Sport and Recreation in order to develop a strategic plan for the Free State. This will also help us in decision-making, so that resources in the province can be taken where they are needed the most and results can be measured.

Coming to the programme on education and training, its primary objective is twofold. The first is to start jointly an education programme that will develop volunteer programmes. Volunteerism is necessary in sport in South Africa, and in our provinces. We need to develop programmes to assist volunteers. The second objective is to establish a network of expertise with our partners, who can send experts on coaching.

Regarding the envisaged coaching academy, which we are working on in the Free State, we have realised that one of the major reasons that performance in sport is the way it in South Africa is the lack of a strategy that is focused on developing the coaches - training the trainers - which Australia has applied with great success. Having performed badly in the preceding years, Australia looked at this strategy and developed it. They are now number four in the whole world in the Olympic Games, having come from nowhere, because they applied that strategy of developing the coaches.

The Flemish-Free State Sport Scholarship Fund is aimed at helping disadvantaged students to enrol for the new degree in Applied Leisure Sciences at the Free State University, which has specialist areas such as high-performance coaching and facilities management.

We have invited all provinces to participate in this programme. Only six provinces could make it in time for the academic year. As I am talking to the hon members, some of the eight disadvantaged students will, as professional coaches, come up to international standards. They can be employed anywhere in the world. The academic programme is internationally accredited, through the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. We also realised that there were problems at Ellis Park, and elsewhere, in the management of events and facilities. That programme will also advantage South Africans from these provinces, where we have set as a priority that half of those participating should be women. It was not a request but a directive from me to say that in order to make an impact we need to seriously take women on board.

The fourth programme, which is the exchange of athletes, is aimed at providing for the mutual exchange of athletes, high- performance and elite potential athletes, for advanced training and conditioning camps. In the Free State, we are in a unique position where we have training facilities at altitudes at more than 1 700 metres above sea level in the area of Qwaqwa, which we can use to our advantage to promote our facilities with our international partners, so that when they come to the Free State they can make use of those facilities. Our athletes, coaches and administrators will have the advantage of going to Belgium to be exposed to their facilities in terms of athlete conditioning and high-performance programmes in that area.

In the area of gender equality, we have a policy of sport and recreation in the Free State whose theme is Getting Free State active'', which is in line with the White Paper on Sport and Recreation, whose theme is Getting the Nation to Play’’. We have articulated our vision with the participation of all stakeholders as to what we want to achieve. The participation of women and girls in sport is not a by-the-way thing, but a must in order to realise the full potential of all our people in the province and also in the country.

Although there are successes here and there - for example, we see the emergence of women referees in soccer, women technical officials and women judges in boxing, as we have been talking about the South African Boxing Bill - there is a lot more that can be done. The only way we can achieve that is by heeding what the chairperson said in his speech: that we need to look at the funding policy.

As I will be coming to the racism in sport section, I need to say, now, that no racist sport will receive a cent from the programmes that are designed to level the playing field in our province. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mntw B Z ZULU: Sihlalo, Ngqongqoshe wezemiDlalo nezikaQedisizungu, Ndlu yoMkhandlu kaZwelonke weziFundazwe, ukungabikhona kwezinto zokudlala emiphakathini eyayincishwe amathuba kuhle sikubheke njengendlela enonya olusabekayo eyadalwa inqubo yobandlululo i-Bantu Education policy. Le nqubo yobandlululo yayakhiwe ngendlela yokuthi iningi labantu baleli lizwe, okungabamnyama, bathole imfundo okungesiyo eyamakhono. Abesifazane abamnyama bebefundiselwa ukuba babe yizisebenzi zomesisi emakhishini.

Ukuvikelwa kwabamhlophe ngokwemfundo nakwezemidlalo kwabe kuyinqubomgomo yeqembu lamaNeshinali eyakhiwa yahlelwa uNgqongqoshe we-Native Affairs, uDkt H F Verwoed. (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)

[Prince B Z ZULU: Chairperson, Minister of Sport and Recreation and the NCOP, we should look at the lack of sport facilities in previously disadvantaged communities as a horrible situation since it resulted from the apartheid principle called the Bantu Education policy. This apartheid policy was made in such a way that most black people in this country should receive an education that was not based on skills. Black women went to school so that they could be trained to become domestic workers in the kitchens of white madams.

The protection of whites in the areas of education and sport was the principle of the NP that was established by the Minister of Native Affairs, Dr H F Verwoerd.]

Whilst our approach to sport and recreation has to be based on South African values and beliefs, geography, community, history and heritage, our national sport and recreation has to be responsive to global influence. The challenge in the provision of facilities in South Africa is not simply about the shortage of facilities, but rather about the location of facilities. They are just not where the majority of the people are.

Furthermore, it is a considered approach of the Ministry and the Department of Sport and Recreation to provide multipurpose facilities in the focal point of each community.

Ukudlala kuyingxenye yezinto ezibalulekile empilweni yomuntu. Umuntu uqala ukudlala esewumbungu esibelethweni sikanina. Lokhu kunyakaza kokuqala okwaziwa ngunina kunikeza injabulo enkulu kuye. Kuyisibusiso angekwazi ukusichaza kanye nempilo kulokhu asuke ekumumethe. Unina uyaqaphela usuku nosuku ukuthi konje uke ,f.,fwayizwa yini ingane yakhe idlala esiswini. Kuyaye kuthi noma isizelwe unina ayibone kuqala ukuthi ayiphilile ngoba ingadlali ngalolo lusuku. Ukudlala yikhona okuqinisa umzimba.

Ngizophawula ngibhekise ekuthuthukisweni kwezemidlalo ezindaweni zasemakhaya. Ukungabi bikho kwezindawo zokudlala ezindaweni zasemakhaya; kwenza ukuba abadlali abaningi abanamakhono ahlukahlukene bafuduke bayohlala emadolobheni. Abahambi ngoba benyanya ukuhlala bathuthukise imidlalo emakhaya kepha basuke beya ezindaweni ezinezidingo zokudlala ezanele. Abadlali basezindaweni esezithuthukisiwe bafinyelela kalula emadlelweni aluhlaza.

Izikole ezisezindaweni zasemakhaya azinazo neze izikhungo zezemidlalo enhlobonhlobo. Zisasele emuva kakhulu ekutheni zithole izidingo ezifana nalezo ezisemadolobheni. Kusinikeza ithemba elikhulu kule Ndlu ukuzwa imizamo eyenziwa uMnyango ukuthuthukisa ezemidlalo ezifundazweni zonke zaseNingizimu Afrika.

Thina bantu base-Afrika sinemidlalo yethu yendabuko. Eminye yale midlalo yethu igxile kakhulu emasikweni ethu. Kuyadabukisa kodwa ukuthi namuhla isibonakala sengathi iyogcina seyishabalele ngenxa yokuthi ayixhaswa ngezimali zokuyithuthukisa. Sinomdlalo okuthiwa umdlalo wejadu lapho izigodi ezithile zisina ziqophisane khona ngemvunulo nangamahubo azo omdabu.

Sinomdlalo omunye obizwa ngokuthi ukuciba insema. Lapho, kusuke kuqeqeshwa abafana ukuba babe nekhono lokunemba ngomkhonto uma sebezingela noma sebeya empini. Kunemidlalo eminingi enhlobonhlobo esinayo ezindaweni zasemakhaya enjengomkhanunu, umlabalaba, ugqaphu kanye nengcuva. Yonke le midlalo iyakudinga kakhulu ukwesekwa ngezimali ukuze nayo ikhule ize ifinyelele ezingeni lomhlaba. Siyazibonga-ke futhi sizikhuthaza lezo zifundazwe eseziqalele ukuvuselela leyo midlalo yethu yendabuko. (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)

[Playing is an important part of the life of a human being. A person starts playing while he is still a fetus. The movement made by a fetus for the first time gives pleasure to a woman. It is a blessing, which cannot be explained. It is also a sign of the good health of the fetus. A woman checks every day if the fetus plays. Even after delivery, the mother can tell if there is something wrong with the baby, particularly if it is not playing that day. Playing strengthens the body.

I am going to talk about sports development in the rural areas. A lack of sport facilities in the rural areas causes many players with different talents to move to urban areas. They do not leave the rural areas because they do not want to improve sports there, but because they want to be in places where there are enough sports facilities. Players who are in the developed areas climb the ladder of success very easily.

Rural schools do not have different types of sports facilities. They are far behind in providing needs, like urban schools have. It gives us hope to hear the department in this House talking about improving sports in all provinces of South Africa.

We, the South Africans, have our own traditional games. Some of these games are based on our traditions. It is saddening today, because it looks as if these games will disappear because they are not sponsored so that they can be developed. We have a game called ijadu, a traditional dance for which people from different valleys come together and compete, dancing in their attire and singing traditional songs.

We also have another game called ukuciba insema, a game of dart-throwing at a rolling target. Here boys are trained how to stab so that they can stab well during hunting and in war battles. There are other different kinds of games that we have in the rural areas like umkhanunu, umlabalaba, ingqathu and ingcuva. All these games need to be financially sponsored so that they can grow and reach the international level. We thank the department and we also encourage those provinces that have started to play traditional games again.]

Owing to the fact that sport and recreation activities are predominantly practised in urban areas and are largely Eurocentric, indigenous games have, over the years, been forgotten whilst others have been marginalised. Indigenous games are essential in order to get more South Africans active. This would impact on a number of issues such as economic growth the accessibility of resources in international participation, education and training the African identity and restoring cultural diversity.

Mphathisihlalo, thina njengoKhongolose siyaseseka kakhulu iSabiwomali osethula kule Ndlu. [Ihlombe.] [Chairperson, we as the ANC support the Budget Vote that has been presented in this House. [Applause.]]

Mrs C NKUNA: Hon Chair, hon Ministers and hon members, if this House were to have a soccer match, player Ackermann would be the first to get a red card. [Laughter.] Let me quote the following:

The whites and different nonwhite groups must organise their sport separately and also under separate control bodies. Although nonwhites will be allowed to attend sports meetings at facilities where separate amenities are available, the public opinion at the moment is not in favour of sports competitions between whites and nonwhites, and mixed sports teams are not approved of.

This statement was made in 1956 by Dr Dönges, the Minister of domestic affairs, which stamped the official policy of the National Party government as far as sport and recreation were concerned in apartheid South Africa. [Interjections.] This also stamped the beginning of the end for meaningful international sports participation, as South Africa’s sporting ties with the rest of the world were slowly but surely being cut off. What it did achieve was to develop, with the active assistance of the private sector, a massive infrastructural system that had only one thing in mind: the development of the white minority. Stadiums, sports centres and well- equipped arenas were developed in white areas, while the black townships were left in ruin.

The democratic South Africa, through the Department of Sport and Recreation, is the custodian of the overwhelming majority that watch and support sport. [Interjections.] So we are here to legislate, and we have legislated and will continue to do so in order to uproot the ideologies that the hon member still has. School sport is seen as the nursery of our future sports stars and, as such, needs all the support and recognition it deserves. At the moment the United School Sport Association of SA is doing everything in its power to improve the image of school sport, despite the massive stumbling blocks it is faced with.

Ussasa is busy implementing the Government’s policy on sport and recreation at school level. Its business will include talent identification; maximising participation; co-ordinating interschool and intraschool competitions; coaching and developmental programmes for teachers; giving input to the physical education curriculum; and sharing facilities with the community.

This means that in order to improve the standard of school sports while, at the same time, helping Ussasa, more facilities should be provided, especially in the rural areas, the Northern Province in particular.

School sports should be made part of physical education and should form part of ongoing education restructuring, which includes incorporation into Curriculum 2000. School sports need to be prioritised and all efforts should be made to ensure that school sports, wherever they are played, get a generous budget that will sustain and assist development initiatives at this level. [Interjections.]

Efforts to transform our society - an example hon members can hear for themselves - cannot be made through programmes and policy initiatives exclusively. Although these are indeed required and critically essential, it is my view that transformation depends, to a large extent, on the transformation of the mindset and, in a way, on moving forward collectively with a common goal and vision.

Given all this and more, we must, however, emphasise the point that it seems quite unfair to expect the Minister of Sport and Recreation to do all this work with a very limited budget. We understand the priorities that face our Government in terms of housing, education and health, but we do believe that sport has played, and is playing, a vital role in getting our people together, in combating crime and in giving our young people an opportunity to participate and excel in sport.

An idle mind breeds evil. A child in sport is a child out of court. [Interjections.] Spectators of all races on one grandstand will, equally, celebrate Shawn Bartlett when he scores a winning goal for Bafana Bafana. [Interjections.] And, again, the same will happen when Paulse scores a try for Amabhokobhoko, the rugby team.

We have made tremendous strides in addressing the plight of women and girls in sport. I would like to mention some of these successes while, at the same time, raising the challenges that still confront us. Our Government is a signatory to the Brighton Declaration, which has, as its main objective, the development of sport and culture that enable and value the full involvement of women in every aspect of sport. [Interjections.] An HON MEMBER: Bafana Bafana must be 50% women.

Mrs C NKUNA: Let me change the hon member’s mindset. [Laughter.] Regarding rural women in the Northern Province, our rural sports programme is constrained to a few codes, for example soccer, basketball and netball, with facilities that are limited. However, we have managed to produce sportsmen and sportswomen of the likes of Ntabi Ravhele, Jomo Sono, Raphahlele, boxers such as Ndou, and other legendary figures. We also managed to produce soccer teams such as Ria Stars, which is led by Ria herself, a woman, and Black Leopards which features in the professional soccer league.

In conclusion, in the Northern Province we have also introduced cultural gains like Merabaraba, Tinqedzo, Khadzi, etc. We particularly wish to express our appreciation for the efforts of the department relating to the process of job creation, via the activity of upgrading and erecting basic sport and recreation facilities in disadvantaged rural areas. This is clearly a poverty relief project which should be maintained. [Applause.] The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! We now call on the hon the Minister to reply to the debate.

The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Madam Chairperson, how do I reply to all these issues? However, I think the first thing I should do is to try to register my distress at the news of the collision in which family members of the hon A J Williams were involved. We share in the sadness and grief, and I hope that the family recovers well.

I am always reminded of the fact that I am Presbyterian. I take my position in the Presbyterian church quite seriously. I thought I should mention that. [Interjections.]

I want to thank all the members that have participated in the debate. [Interjections.]

An HON MEMBER. Me too?

The MINISTER: All the members. [Laughter.]

I think I should ask to be moved from the National Assembly to the NCOP. This is quite a manageable situation and members are much more passionate, vocal and mature. [Laughter.]

First of all I want to go through some things. The funding policy that the hon Kgware spoke about is exactly the kind of funding that we are dealing with. If one does not work according to some of the criteria that we have set, we will look into that. We have a core group of federations.

We also have a level-2 group. We look at them according to the criteria that we have set. All of them know these criteria. Racism is something that we do not even want to talk about, we outlawed that. There are many challenges facing the sports commission.

I am glad that hon members said some of the things here that I say every day to the officials. The CEO, head of the department and director of facilities are all sitting there together with Rita, who was involved in the RDP projects that we had, and then there is the policy person and the legal buff, Gideon Boshof. So all of them are here. Whenever I raise issues, they know where it comes from.

To the hon Madlala I want to say that transformation is indeed slow, but we are putting systems in place to get it moving.

Most members mentioned that indigenous games are doing very well. I want to ask members to encourage their provinces to do something. What Prince Zulu has said is quite good, and we should follow up on some of the things that he has raised, like competitions between provinces in indigenous games.

Every member said something about school sport. It is something that worries a lot of us. We are putting a lot of effort into getting school sport up and running. We are also appealing to teachers, coaches and parents to take an interest in school sport. I know some of us here are parents, but we hardly go to our children’s games. We need to encourage people to attend them. My daughter barred me from attending matches. She plays netball and I embarrassed her. I ran alongside the court, screaming. I got so involved that my daughter said: ``Never again.’’ [Laughter.] Therefore I do not attend matches any more. I embarrass them when I go to these things.

We are dealing with the issue of the ASA. I hope that we will get to the bottom of it. Every day all of us in Government talk about clean governance and clean administration. Currently, with the documentation that we have got, we really are getting somewhere to finalise the whole thing.

I am quite worried about the issue of Model C schools and soccer. Kids are mostly directed towards just rugby and cricket and not given a choice to play soccer too. It is something that we need to discuss with the Minister of Education to involve the teacher unions. Ussasa is very critical in this.

I think the criterion for PSL clubs in KwaZulu-Natal is quite simple. If a club finishes last, it is out. That is the way that it is done. It is not because they are from KwaZulu-Natal, it is because they could not make it. Clubs facing that right now are the African Wanderers and Manning Rangers. At some stage I thought Punja Cele Cele counted among these, but they recovered and are playing well. I hope we are getting somewhere.

Sis Hope Malgas is Sis Hope to me. She has been involved in nonracial sport for a very long time. We are streamlining the department and I hope that will quell the fears of officials.

We have an admirable programme that gives free sports equipment to schools and clubs. Hon members should feel free to contact us. We give free soccer and netball kits to all schools, irrespective of where they are. We request members to be vigilant, look at those areas and help us. The programme is running for the second year. We give kits to all areas and we need hon members’ assistance in that.

Peddie in the Eastern Cape is one of the nodes which will receive sports facilities as part of our poverty relief programme. We will be launching a sport and recreation programme in Peddie in August.

I am worried about women in sport. More effort should go into that. We need to push for more women and girls to participate in sport.

From the Department’s side, I cannot complain much about funding. Once again I want to assure hon members that we will look into matters if we are approached.

Mr Van Niekerk spoke well, and I am not going to enter into debate with him. He spoke very well. Herschelle Gibbs was given a suspended sentence last night. The sentence is mostly about ensuring that he goes to counselling and mentoring, as the hon member has rightly pointed out.

We have set aside opportunities for smaller sports codes. We have set aside some money for this. Most of them do not get sponsorships because they do not have air time. They do not appear on television as much as the bigger codes. We have a programme to deal with that, which will help them.

I have tried to run through a lot of things that I heard. The hon Mr Colemann is quite right about table tennis. Sometimes I wonder whether we should send 10 people out or rather get the team to come and play here. It is something that the head of the department should look at. Fortunately the assistant policy director is here to look at some of those things.

The ministerial task team is doing good work. I hope that it will go to the provinces and involve more and more of our stakeholders.

It is true that we should not sit back and do nothing about the issue of Ellis Park. I have mentioned Ellis Park several times in my speeches. Mr Mkhaliphi spoke about fair play. I like his approach to fair play, it is exactly the kind of approach that we have.

Ntate Mfebe spoke about sport in the Free State, where they are doing quite well. The hon member covered most of what they are doing. I am happy with that, especially with the link they have with the Flemish government. This is part of an agreement that we have.

We have very good agreements with other countries like China. We will be signing an agreement with China in August and will exchange resources and expertise. The same goes for Cuba. At present we have three students in Cuba and will be sending three more for training. In this way we get quite a lot of good expertise and exchange.

Ma Nkuna referred to racism. She reminded me of a document addressing the demon of racism. I think every member of the ANC has read it and it would be good reading for the other parties too. Please feel free to read it. It will help the hon Mrs Witbooi. [Laughter.] I have mentioned Ussasa. Their motto is: A child in sport is a child out of court.

Lastly, the issue of the broadcasting of national events is another area of concern. I am going to have a meeting this afternoon with the three broadcasters to deal with that, because all of us cannot have decoders, and most of our people cannot have access to decoders and satellite dishes. The SABC, e-tv and M-Net have a meeting with me this afternoon to try and resolve some of these areas so that people can have access to these sports.

I would like to thank the Select Committee on Education in the NCOP, in particular the chairperson, Mr David Kgware, for his support and commitment. We have always had this kind of a relationship with the standing committee, the SA Sports Commission and the members of Minmec, all the MECs. Professor Denver Hendricks, who is the head of my department, has also been a top sportsperson. He is looking forward to going to Peddie, because he at one time slept in a cell in Peddie, because he did not have a place to sleep. He is one of the top players we have had.

This year is the year of volunteers. That hon member is quite correct, volunteers are critical to sport.

Lastly, tomorrow, as hon members are aware, the replay of the Kaiser Chiefs versus Pirates game is going to take place at the FNB Stadium. Santos and Sundowns are also playing there tomorrow. It is a big game, and I would urge members to come to the game. It will help. Buy tickets and come to the game. We wish all the teams that will be playing there tomorrow very well. We hope the best team will win.

I have mentioned a lot of things. Regarding Ellis Park, I hope Judge Bernard Ngoepe will come up with very good recommendations on avoiding anything like what happened at Ellis Park happening in South Africa again.

Lastly, to our sportspeople out there, we wish them the best for whatever they are doing. We really see them as role models, and they should behave as such. [Applause.] Debate concluded.

The Council adjourned at 12:53. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The Minister of Transport on 5 June 2001 submitted  a  draft  of
     the National Land Transport Transition  Amendment  Bill,  2001,  as
     well as the memorandum  explaining  the  objects  of  the  proposed
     legislation, to the Speaker and the Chairperson in terms  of  Joint
     Rule 159. The draft has been referred to  the  Portfolio  Committee
     on Transport and the Select Committee on  Public  Services  by  the
     Speaker and  the  Chairperson,  respectively,  in  accordance  with
     Joint Rule 159(2).


 (2)    The following Bill was  introduced  by  the  Minister  of  Arts,
     Culture, Science and Technology in the National Assembly on 8  June
     2001  and  referred  to  the  Joint  Tagging  Mechanism  (JTM)  for
     classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     "Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal" Act Repeal Bill [B  30
          - 2001] (National Assembly - sec 75) [Explanatory  summary  of
          Bill  and  prior  notice  of  its  introduction  published  in
          Government Gazette No 22367 of 8 June 2001.]


     The Bill has also been  referred  to  the  Portfolio  Committee  on
     Arts, Culture, Science and Technology of the National Assembly.


 (3)    The following Bill was introduced by the Minister of  Trade  and
     Industry in the National Assembly on 8 June 2001  and  referred  to
     the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for classification  in  terms  of
     Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Close Corporations Amendment Bill [B 31 -  2001]  (National
          Assembly - sec 75) [Explanatory  summary  of  Bill  and  prior
          notice of its introduction published in Government Gazette  No
          22249 of 24 April 2001.]


     The Bill has also been  referred  to  the  Portfolio  Committee  on
     Trade and Industry of the National Assembly.


 (4)    The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 8 June  2001  in  terms  of
     Joint Rule 160(3), classified the following Bill as  a  section  76
     Bill:


     (i)     Marketing of Agricultural Products Amendment Bill [B  26  -
          2001] (National Assembly - sec 76).
     [NOTE: The Bill was introduced as a section 75 Bill.]


 (5)    The referral on 7 June 2001 of the Report of the Auditor-General
     on the Financial Statements of Vote No 34  -  Transport  for  1999-
     2000 [RP 143-2000] for information to the  Portfolio  Committee  on
     Water Affairs and Forestry and to the Select Committee on Land  and
     Environmental Affairs was incorrect. The paper is referred  to  the
     Portfolio Committee on Transport and to  the  Select  Committee  on
     Public Services for information.

National Council of Provinces:

1. The Chairperson:

 Bill passed by National Council of Provinces on  8  June  2001:  To  be
 submitted to President of the Republic for assent:


 (i)    South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill  [B  2B  -  2001]
     (National Assembly - sec 75).

1. The Chairperson:

 Message from National Assembly to National Council of Provinces:


 Bill passed by National Assembly on 8 June  2001  and  transmitted  for
 concurrence:


 (a)    Patents Amendment Bill [B 24 - 2001] (National  Assembly  -  sec
     75).


     The Bill has been referred to  the  Select  Committee  on  Economic
     Affairs of the National Council of Provinces.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Report of the Auditor-General on  the  Financial  Statements  of
     Vote No 26 - Public  Service  Commission  for  1999-2000  [RP  135-
     2000].


     Referred  to  the  Standing  Committee  on  Public   Accounts   for
     consideration and report. Referred also to the Portfolio  Committee
     on Public Service and Administration and to  the  Select  Committee
     on Local Government and Administration.


 (2)    Report  of  the  Auditor-General  on  the  Council  for  Mineral
     Technology for 1999-2000 [RP 65-2001].

1. The Minister of Education:

 (1)    Government Notice No 50 published in Government Gazette No 21996
     dated 2 February 2001, Regulations relating to the provisioning  of
     educator posts within a provincial department of education and  its
     institutions  and  departments'  offices,  made  in  terms  of  the
     Employment of Educators Act, 1998 (Act No 76 of 1998).


 (2)    Government Notice No 106  published  in  Government  Gazette  No
     22001 dated 2 February 2001, Approval  for  the  extension  of  the
     experimental status of the pilot programme,  health  and  community
     care  in  technical  colleges,  made  in  terms  of  the   National
     Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No 27 of 1996).


 (3)    Government Notice No 107  published  in  Government  Gazette  No
     22001 dated 2 February 2001, Approval  for  the  extension  of  the
     experimental status of the pilot programme, hospitality studies  in
     schools and technical colleges,  made  in  terms  of  the  National
     Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No 27 of 1996).
 (4)    Government Notice No 259  published  in  Government  Gazette  No
     22154 dated  20  March  2001,  Call  for  nomination  to  fill  two
     vacancies, made  in  terms  of  the  South  African  Qualifications
     Authority Act, 1995 (Act No 58 of 1995).


 (5)    Government Notice No 415  published  in  Government  Gazette  No
     22154 dated  20  March  2001,  National  Policy  regarding  Further
     Education and Training Programme: Approval of  adjustments  to  the
     Economic Higher and Standard Grade Core Syllabi for Grade 12,  made
     in terms of the National Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No  27  of
     1996).


 (6)    Government Notice No 416  published  in  Government  Gazette  No
     22154 dated  20  March  2001,  Approval  of  an  amendment  to  the
     aggregate for  Senior  Certificate  candidates  offering  technical
     college instructional offerings as part of the programmes, made  in
     terms of the National Education Policy Act,  1996  (Act  No  27  of
     1996).
 (7)    Government Notice No 417  published  in  Government  Gazette  No
     22154 dated  20  March  2001,  National  Policy  regarding  Further
     Education and Training Programmes: Approval  of  the  drafting  and
     documentation  of  the  National  Education  Policy  regarding  the
     Gauteng Youth College Programme, made  in  terms  of  the  National
     Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No 27 of 1996).

1. The Minister of Health:

 (1)    Government Notice No R.127 published in  Government  Gazette  No
     22052 dated 12 February 2001, Regulations in terms  of  the  Allied
     Health Professions Act, 1982, made in terms of section  38  of  the
     Allied Health Professions Act, 1982 (Act No 63 of 1982).


 (2)    Government Notice No R.266 published in  Government  Gazette  No
     22157 dated 26 March 2001, Correction to the Government  Notice  No
     R.127 of 12 February 2001, made  in  terms  of  the  Allied  Health
     Professions Act, 1982 (Act No 63 of 1982).


 (3)    Government Notice No R.44 published  in  Government  Gazette  No
     21983 dated 19 January 2001, Regulations relating  to  registration
     as a dental technician and  related  matters:  Amendment,  made  in
     terms of section 50 of the Dental Technicians Act, 1979 (Act No  19
     of 1979).


 (4)    Government Notice No R.156 published in  Government  Gazette  No
     22076  dated  23   February   2001,   Regulations   regarding   the
     registration  and  training  of  Student  Dental  Technicians   and
     Student Dental Technologists, made in terms of section  50  of  the
     Dental Technicians Act, 1979 (Act No 19 of 1979).


 (5)    Government Notice No R.253 published in  Government  Gazette  No
     22148 dated 23 March 2001, Regulations relating to registration  as
     a Dental Technician and related matters: Amendment, made  in  terms
     of section 50 of the Dental Technicians Act, 1979  (Act  No  19  of
     1979).


 (6)    Government Notice No R.43 published  in  Government  Gazette  No
     21983  dated  19  January  2001,  Regulations  regarding  processed
     foodstuffs, made in terms  of  section  15(1)  of  the  Foodstuffs,
     Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No 54 of 1972).


 (7)    Government Notice No R.239 published in  Government  Gazette  No
     22133 dated 19 January 2001, Regulations relating to salt, made  in
     terms  of  section  15(1)  of   the   Foodstuffs,   Cosmetics   and
     Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No 54 of 1972).


 (8)    Government Notice No R.366 published in  Government  Gazette  No
     22258 dated 4 May 2001,  Regulations  governing  the  labelling  of
     foodstuffs  obtained  through   certain   techniques   of   genetic
     modification, made in terms of section  15(1)  of  the  Foodstuffs,
     Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No 54 of 1972).


 (9)    Government Notice No R.228 published in  Government  Gazette  No
     22133 dated 16 March 2001, Regulations defining the  scope  of  the
     Profession of Optometry, made in terms  of  section  33(1)  of  the
     Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (10)Government Notice No R.229 published in Government Gazette No 22133
     dated 16 March 2001, List of approved  health  facilities  for  the
     purposes of performing community service by dentists  in  the  year
     2001-2002, made in terms  of  Regulation  5.1  of  the  Regulations
     relating to Performance of Community Service by the  profession  of
     dentists.


 (11)Government Notice No R.237 published in Government Gazette No 22133
     dated 16 March 2001, Regulations  relating  to  qualifications  for
     registration of assistant clinical technologists  and  registration
     of persons  qualified  outside  the  Republic,  made  in  terms  of
     section  61(1),  read  with  sections  24  and  25  of  the  Health
     Professions Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (12)Government Notice No R.251 published in Government Gazette No 22148
     dated 23 March 2001, Regulations  relating  to  qualifications  for
     registration of clinical technologists and registration of  persons
     qualified outside the Republic, made in  terms  of  section  61(1),
     read with sections 24 and 25 of the Health  Professions  Act,  1974
     (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (13)Government Notice No R.394 published in Government Gazette No 22284
     dated 18 May 2001, List of approved facilities for the purposes  of
     performing community service by medical practitioners in  the  year
     2002, made in terms of Regulation 5.1 of the  Regulations  relating
     to Performance of  Community  Service  by  persons  registering  in
     terms of the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (14)Government Notice No 407 published in Government Gazette  No  22291
     dated 14 May 2001, Nominations for representatives to serve on  the
     Board of the National Health Laboratory  Service  (NHLS),  made  in
     terms of section 8(2) of the  National  Health  Laboratory  Service
     Act, 2000 (Act No 37 of 2000).


 (15)Government Notice No R.395 published in Government Gazette No 22284
     dated 18 May 2001, List of approved facilities for the purposes  of
     performing community service by pharmacists in the year 2002,  made
     in  terms  of  Regulation  3  of  the   Regulations   relating   to
     Performance of Pharmaceutical Community Services.


 (16)Proclamation No R.16 published in Government Gazette No 22052 dated
     12 February 2001, Commencement  of  the  Chiropractors,  Homeopaths
     and Allied Health Service Professions Second  Amendment  Act,  2000
     (Act No 50 of 2000) from 12 February 2001.


 (17)Proclamation No 30 published in Government Gazette No  22287  dated
     11 May 2001, Commencement  of  certain  sections  of  the  National
     Health Laboratory Service Act, 2000 (Act No 37  of  2000)  from  10
     May 2001.


 (18)Government Notice No 414 published in Government Gazette  No  22293
     dated 14 May  2001,  Publication  of  Explanatory  Summary  of  the
     National Laboratory Service Amendment Bill, 2001.