MONDAY, 5 JUNE 2006 __

          PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES

                                ____

The Council met at 14:04.

The 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.

                        MOTION OF CONDOLENCE


                       (The late Dr S Bhamjee)

Ms A N T MCHUNU: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council –

 1) expresses its grief at the loss of Dr Bhamjee, a gynaecologist from
    Pietermaritzburg and wife of the hon Mr Y S Bhamjee, MP;


 2) notes the excessively high crime rate in KwaZulu-Natal,
    particularly in respect of women and children, and is rendered
    speechless by it; and

(3) expresses its condolences to Mr Bhamjee, his family and the entire KwaZulu-Natal community.

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

                         APPROPRIATION BILL



                           (Policy debate)

Vote No 19 – Sport and Recreation South Africa:

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I will now call upon the hon Minister, Rev M A Stofile, to deliver his Budget Vote. Hon Minister, you may choose, there is a podium here too. Normally, we want to see you these days when you talk to us. That’s why we made the podium. [Applause.] The time allocation is also there.

The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Chairperson and hon members, our people and our country have many reasons to celebrate this period of our history. This was clearly and neatly articulated last February by a group of Afrikaner business ladies whom I happened to engage at Aliwal North during a door-to-door campaign. In their own words, they said they were very pleased with where South Africa is as a country, but they frankly told me that they were not going to vote for the ANC councillors. Still, they lost their wards.

Where we are was achieved in a very expensive way. Good sons and daughters of our land lost their lives, spent many years in jail and in exile. Yes, many of us missed being normal children. This year we commemorate such events as the last revolt that was led by Chief Bambatha 100 years ago in defence of our land and our dignity. Fifty years ago our leaders faced trumped up Treason Trial charges. Then 30 years ago a section of the youth of South Africa rose against an obnoxious system that had seen so much pain being inflicted by so few, to so many, for so long.

Of course, 50 years ago, our mothers also embarked on that momentous march to the Union Buildings to fight for their liberation and justice. To be here should therefore be a cause for joy for all of us, united in our diversity – just as our forebearers have always wanted South Africa to be a country that belongs to all who live in it, black and white.

Sport should see no colour and I must confess that this was inspired by the song by the American, Mr Nasirri, Love Sees No Colour. I think sport also should see no colour. [Applause.] By its very nature, sport is a natural catalyst for an integrated and united nation. Go to any place where children come together. Until they are socialised otherwise, children readily play together without prejudice.

However, last night I watched an SABC 1 programme called Asikhulume. The topic was the transformation of rugby in this country. The picture painted was not very encouraging. The most horrific information to be heard last night was that one Fihlani boy from KwaZulu-Natal Sharks was not selected for the provincial side and I quote the speakers: “… because he could not speak English”. This is a naked violation of our Constitution because it unfairly discriminates solely on the grounds of race and language, contrary to section 9 of our Constitution.

Sportspeople can be exposed to antisocial traits like violence, corruption, hooliganism, excessive nationalism and cheating. Sportspeople can be exposed to the dangers of child labour, doping, early specialisation, exploitative commercialisation and overexertion. These ills of society invariably affect the health of citizens. They create a premature separation of juveniles from their families and also from cultural and communal ties. So, yes, sport is a reflection of society, its miseries and woes, the socioeconomic challenges and, indeed, the values of society.

The positive and developmental approach to sport has potentially positive benefits. In a transforming society like ours, sport and recreation must necessarily contribute to our country’s transformation agenda - an agenda that seeks to create a nonracial, nonsexist, prosperous and peaceful South Africa. Sport must contribute to the redressing of the disparities of the past, with respect to equality of opportunities, access to infrastructure, access to equipment and kit – yes, and equal access to skills and skilled coaches, referees and efficient managers.

What guides us in our work? Our President in South Africa has persistently highlighted the potential that sport has to build social cohesion and national unity. Who can understand that more than ourselves, who experienced such cohesive unity as South Africans during the victory in the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and when we won the right to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup in 2004? Of course, we were also in a national solidarity of misery, woe and anger as we lamented not being on the list of nations to participate in the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany.

I am reminding most of you about what you already understand. But success for a sport activist does not rely on a periodic remembrance of these facts, and it does not rely merely on talking about them. What is important for us is the passion in implementing these ideas. Knowing is not enough; we must apply the knowledge. Being willing is not enough; we must do what must be done. The purpose of this submission is to develop a common knowledge between this House and our department regarding what needs to be done, and to translate the constitutional imperatives into a common programme of action for the transformation of our society.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa affirms the democratic values of humanity, human dignity, equality and freedom. Participation in sport and recreation is recognised by the United Nations as a fundamental human right, which all governments must give all their people access to. As such, access to sport and recreation is a non-derogable right. It is a human right.

In line with these constitutional imperatives, our President assigned us powers and functions to develop and implement national policies and guidelines for our people and our country. In this way we contribute to the transformation of South Africa into a country that belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. In this way we contribute to the healing of the pain caused by an unfortunate dispensation in our country.

Our President also reminds us all the time that our ideals and objectives for the South Africa of our dreams cannot be achieved through spontaneity and mere aspirations. The transformation agenda cannot be left to the whims of market forces, for the President correctly points out that market forces are not sympathetic to the poor. So, as government, we have a responsibility to intervene and to ensure that sport and recreation unlock their potential in transforming and developing the underdeveloped parts and people of our country.

Our focus continues to revolve around the following areas. The first one is mass participation, which is the promotion of sport and recreation among our people. This takes into account the different age groups as well as the different categories of participation. Response to this programme has far exceeded our expectations and puts a lot of pressure on us in respect of funds, equipment and facilities.

We are also challenged to equip the elite sportspersons of our country to make sure that South Africa remains at the top of the world. This is very important for nation-building, pride and social cohesion. I must confess we have not always been successful in this regard, especially with respect to football.

With our focus on good corporate governance and human resource development, training and skilling have become critical. Some sports federations and other institutions have supported us admirably in these initiatives.

Only two weeks ago, together with Safa, Super Sport and the University of Johannesburg, Wits, we launched a senior management training course. The benefit of such acquired skills will not only go a long way towards helping a number of federations to raise their management capacity, but even those managers who are jumping ship and going into other careers will also benefit South Africa. So our MPP, Mass Participation Programme, not only swells the ranks of sports programmes, it also creates jobs and develops skills.

School sport is a shared function of the Department of Education and our department. Much still needs to be done to realign the mindset of our implementers to the new thinking. No government department is an island, but I am afraid some still think that they are islands. We must enrich our collective responsibility with our core specialisations.

We are also involved locally, continentally and globally with anti-doping programmes. Although cheating in sport is as old as the history of organised sport itself - last year, I alluded to the origin of cheating in the pre-Jesus Christ period of Roman times - South Africa is only beginning to experience the most dangerous side of cheating, which is doping.

The current season seems to be the most terrible for our codes, especially athletics. This challenges our department, the federations and the SA Institute for Drug Free Sport to redouble our anti-doping awareness programmes. Of course, that also challenges the members of this august House to participate with those lobbying against the intoxication of our children. The Department of Education and the Department of Social Development are naturally allies in this, and so are public representatives of Parliament.

Doping is not only unfair as it enhances the performance of the user, but it is also dangerous to the health of the user. We must fight this scourge and preserve a healthy nation that cherishes the values of fair play and ubuntu.

We are proud of the contribution our department is making in Africa and the world in anti-doping policy development and the tightening up of sanctions on offenders to include managers, trainers and everybody who introduces athletes to banned drugs. Because, believe me, these children are introduced to these drugs.

Obviously, more legislation and regulation is needed to avoid some sections of the sports fraternity escaping being tested by using selfish and frivolous excuses, like the Cheetahs who refused to have their players tested in the last rugby tournament this year. We are willing to do everything to protect our country. But we must not only be willing, we must actually do it. Help us to succeed by supporting our Budget Vote and our programmes.

The other challenge to sport and recreation is HIV and Aids. The Department of Health is the leading department on HIV and Aids in this country. Our government’s programme to address the challenges of HIV and Aids is one of the most comprehensive and largest in the world.

In 2001, Mr Kofi Annan of the UN commended South Africa for tripling its resources to fight HIV and Aids. In June last year, the World Health Organisation noted that the Republic of South Africa had committed over US$1 billion for antiretrovirals over three years; by far the largest budget allocation of any low or middle income country.

We are pleased that we can be counted as one of the departments that never fails in making a contribution to that allocation. Like any other programme, our partnership with LoveLife must be evaluated to make sure that we derive maximum benefit from our contribution.

The age of hope for faster access to shared opportunities and a better life for all must spur us to quick and determined action. We already see this hope in the middle aged and married women of Mngaza and Libote in the Eastern Cape as they participate in 5km and 10km runs with their children. We see it in the middle-aged women of Limpopo who play football with pseudonyms like Collins Mbesuma, Lucas Radebe and others.

In the remote area of Tsidilamolomo in the North West, the rudiments of world-beaters are displayed as teenage tumblers spin and fly through space under the watchful eye of Tshepo, the No 2 tumbler in the world. As Humbulani Thenga of Shayandima Secondary School leads South Africa’s juniors in marathon running, we see the age of hope beginning to blossom.

Chairperson, whether it is Ntini making a habit of taking five wickets per test match or Bryan Habana habitually intercepting a ball to score important tries; whether it is Sipho Ntlapho becoming the World BMX Champion, or our Under-23 Soccer Team beating their African age-mates; whether it is Basetsana or the KwaZulu-Natal Under-15 Soccer Team beating the world in France; all these are the building blocks for the age of hope. Today is much better than it used to be in our time. Opportunities are no longer determined by race or gender. South Africa is fast belonging to all who live in it, black and white.

Our vision is to see participation in our programmes lead to community clubs. These will in turn be the basic sites of sport development and the building bricks of social cohesion. Together with school sport, community clubs are also catchment areas of players with skills, and will bring transformation.

This is the rationale for us placing such a high premium on the proper organisation and management of school sport and community clubs. Better morals, a new positive value system that will contribute to a moral regeneration, will be born in our communities through these close-knit units.

We are not just putting together human beings who must just get fit and entertain us. We hope to transform selfish and money-driven players and managers into people of great integrity, patriots who want to serve our country more than they want to earn billions from participating in sports. The classic example here is Roland Schoeman and his mother, who refused the millions offered by Qatar. I always mention his mother because she was much stronger than Roland Schoeman on the issue of patriotism.

The first Minister of Sport and Recreation in our democratic country, the late comrade Steve Tshwete, always emphasised that children do not learn to swim in their cots. They need a swimming pool. We fully agree with that great patriot.

The provision of facilities and amenities for all South Africans is a sacrosanct imperative for us. As such, we regard the ability of rural areas and townships to access sports infrastructure as part and parcel of the transformation agenda of our country. This is why the preparation for the Fifa 2010 Soccer World Cup means more to us than just preparing for a mega sports event.

Our preparations for 2010 have to be in synchrony with government plans for the betterment of the lives of our people. This is why we opted for 10 match stadia, for instance, instead of just 8. That is why we will also build or refurbish practice stadia in smaller areas like Kimberley. The road infrastructure, technology and business opportunities must have an impact on the lives of our people and on the economy of our country.

The mindset of our country must also change. This is why we are building football stadia where they have never been built before, because South Africa is not just a rugby and cricket country. Swimming pools and tennis courts are also for the rural areas and not just for the city. We hope our municipalities will continue to co-operate with us in this respect and desist from selling public facilities.

We also firmly believe in collaborating with other departments, like local government, housing, education, health, correctional services, safety and security and, indeed, the national Defence Force, because we believe that when the guns go silent in Africa, a new psyche must be built in the child soldiers, a psyche of peace and development.

Our transformation agenda cannot be complete without attending to gender and disability issues. I believe that we are on track even in this respect. On 13 August we will be hosting a national women in sport conference to which all members will be invited, because although we are making progress we think there is still much that can be done.

We appreciate the contribution of the private sector and NGOs, our departmental staff led by our DG, and the Deputy Minister, Comrade Gerhardus Oosthuizen. Please support our budget proposal so that we can help South Africa remain at the top. As my grandmother used to say: One gets nothing for nothing and very little for a sixpence.” Thank you very much. [Applause.]

Mr B J TOLO: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, MECs present here, colleagues, one of the cruelest legacies of apartheid was to distort sport and recreation in our country. This was done through the segregation of sporting facilities, and the gross neglect of the building of sporting facilities, especially in the black and rural areas. This has led to a situation where the majority of our people were left behind in terms of participation in sport and recreation.

Government, through Sport and Recreation South Africa, has a responsibility to eliminate this legacy by promoting participation in sport and recreation so that the quality of life of our people can improve. Sport, properly harnessed in a country, is the glue that builds and holds a nation together. It is responsible for building common values, common love, and common positive feelings for one’s country.

Prior to 1994, there was no common patriotism in our country. Today, to a large extent, we can speak of a common patriotism, as built through sport, among other things. In 1995, we had the Rugby World Cup in South Africa. In 1996 we had the African Cup of Nations in South Africa, and later we had the Cricket World Cup in our country. In all these and other events, we were screaming together for South Africa across the colour bar. The seed of building a South African nation has geminated to form a seedling, which needs proper nurturing for it to grow into a fully fledged tree.

In 2001, during the conference in Stellenbosch, the ANC had resolved, among other things, that government needed to develop programmes and initiatives aimed at increasing the levels of youth participation in sport, as part of a moral regeneration, and in an endeavour to integrate our communities. The mass participation programme of the department is a genuine endeavour by the department to achieve just that.

When we went to provinces on our oversight visits, we saw how young people are involved in different ways in mass participation. This programme, although not to the same extent in all provinces, has managed to attract young people from the streets, where they would otherwise be involved in pushing drugs, abusing alcohol and other criminal activities. We call upon the department to strive to expand these programmes to involve many more young people, as a large majority of these are still outside this programme.

A research study done recently shows that there is a very low level of physical activity among our young people. This results in them being susceptible to chronic diseases at an early age. As a nation we cannot afford to have a population of young people who are sick an unproductive. That would be a sad day for our country.

We also make a plea that the hubs be monitored on an ongoing bases, because our experience has shown that not every hub co-ordinator is happy. If a hub co-ordinator is not happy, he will not be able to attract many people to participate in that hub.

If there are sufficient funds, we want to urge that the Mmabana concept be looked into. We were really impressed, as a committee, when we saw these Mmabanas and their potential in both the North West and the Free State. We are aware, of course, that the apartheid government built these, but yes, the clouds do have a silver lining.

Sport and Recreation South Africa used to be responsible for the development of sports facilities in our country, especially in the formerly disadvantaged poorer areas. It is our considered view that in this regard we cannot yet celebrate a mission well accomplished. This programme, in the past, was developed through the building of sports facilities by the department.

Today we need to ask ourselves whether it was correct to have the money for sports facilities put together with the other basket of services in the municipal infrastructure grant. We agree that sports facilities are part of infrastructure in municipalities, but because of the serious legacy we are facing in the country, the provision of these facilities should have been treated differently.

School sport is an integral part of the school curriculum, and a nursery for future professional players. A country that neglects these sporting activities does so at its own peril. In our country there is co-operation between Sport and Recreation South Africa and the Department of Education to realise this. The Department of Education is responsible for the curriculum part of it, while Sport and Recreation South Africa is supposed to be responsible for competitive and representative sporting facilities through Sascoc.

We are happy to congratulate Sport and Recreation South Africa on having fully come to the party. You have committed yourselves, at the beginning of this year, to begin a mass school sport campaign in this financial year to broaden participation. We, as a committee, welcome this, and we will monitor and see how far you go in broadening this participation.

We are saddened by the fact that some of our celebrated sportspersons like Godfrey Sepeng and others, have been found to have used banned substances to enhance their performance. We must condemn these activities in no uncertain terms. As government, we need to strengthen anti-doping bodies in our country and elsewhere, to root out this cancer amongst our sportspeople. We can only be proud of a sportsperson whose achievement has not been aided by any substance.

When we look at the budget of the Department of Sport and Recreation, we see that it has increased since 2001-02 to this year. In the 2001-02 financial year, the department was allocated R103,5 million, whilst in this financial year it has been allocated R352,1 million. While it is true that this allocation has been tripled in five years, it is still not enough to address the challenges that are faced by the department.

If we are serious that the department must deliver, we should ensure mass participation in sport, provide sports facilities in disadvantaged areas, subsidise federations and push for transformation in the main sporting codes, and promote high performance in sport in our endeavours to build a nonracial South African sports. To do so we need to allocate more funds to this department.

As it is, at the moment it is like sending your army into battle with guns but no ammunition. If you do that, you will have set them up to fail. At the same time, our provinces have consciously made sport and recreation the Cinderella of their provincial governments. After they have allocated all the departments what is due to them, the crumbs and leftovers of the equitable shares are given to sport and recreation. We strongly believe that this is an anomaly and it needs to be corrected.

Sport and recreation must not be seen as an albatross and an add-on to the programmes of government. It is an integral part, and it is at the centre of government programmes.

South Africa came to a standstill in May 2004 when Fifa announced that we had won the bid to host the Soccer World Cup in 2010. The whole nation was united in celebration to welcome this announcement. The joy and happiness was not only owing to the fact that for the first time Africa, and especially South Africa, would host the world’s biggest sporting event, but also because they knew that there would also be some spin-offs for the country, although these spin-offs could not be quantified yet.

We are aware that as a country we are hard at work to prepare for this event. We know that government will do everything in its power to see to it that we deliver a successful Soccer World Cup in 2010. But in the same breath, we must also say that we do not understand why the department has not been allocated the money that it has requested, to be able to prepare properly for this event.

At the same time, we are not very confident that SAFA, on its own, will deliver a winning soccer team for South Africa. At least, for now, there is nothing pointing in that direction. We can only hope that in the next three or four years, there will be thorough preparations that will bring back our confidence in them. The eyes of the whole world will be on South Africa, and we dare not disappoint.

In conclusion, we want to reiterate that the department needs to be given more funds so that it is in a position to perform its task. The Committee supports this Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]

Ms N M MADLALA-MAGUBANE: Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, MECs present, special delegates, hon members, mass participation in sport and recreation is an important tool in South Africa. It is the only tool that has the power to overcome the old divisions created by the apartheid era, and it does create a bond of common aspirations.

The allocation to this programme is R166,970 million, which constitutes 47,4% of the total budget. Mass participation increases the number of participants through community mass participation called Siyadlala. In Gauteng we called it the Masakhane Games. This also increases the number of participants through school sport.

During the 2004-05 financial year the Department of Sport and Recreation targeted 500 000 participants, but it exceeded this number by 177 784, which means the total number of participants enrolled was 677 784. This clearly shows that the department is adhering to its mission, which says:

To actualise government’s objectives by creating an environment conducive to maximising the access to participation in sport and recreation by all South Africans, and to enhance the medal-winning potential of the country’s athletes in international competitions.

It is clear that the department is trying very hard to remove obstacles that preclude specific sections of the community from participating. It is making sport and recreation an accessible and affordable tool for all South Africans, including those in the rural areas, women, the youth, the elderly and people with disabilities.

It is important for all of us to place sport and recreation at the forefront. By doing so, we will be addressing issues of national importance. We would be able to resolve issues like HIV/Aids, unemployment, address economic growth through sports tourism, rural development, urban renewal, human resource development, and combat crime and eradicate violence and corruption.

In this way, we would be addressing the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, Asgisa. Health levels could improve amongst the communities by motivating communities to develop active lifestyles and channel those with talent into competitive areas of sport.

I commend the department for promoting and registering indigenous games. Some provinces have started recognising and encouraging indigenous games. It is incumbent on us, as public representatives, to encourage communities regarding such games as part of nation-building and the African Renaissance.

Sihlalo mangisho ukuthi sikhule singenazo izinkundla zokudlalela futhi singazi lutho ngezinye izinhlobo zemidlalo eyayidlalwa ngabamhlophe. Sasingakugqize qakala lokho, sasidlala imidlalo efana nengcabethu, izingendo, umlabalaba nokunye. Sasingekho neze isikhathi sabafana, okukanye sokuya emashibhini noma sisebenzise izidakamizwa. Sasiziqhenya nakhu phela besincintisana nokuncintisana. Omabonakude babengekho ngaleso sikhathi.

Mayelana nokuxhunyaniswa kwezikhungo, kunenkinga enkulu ebhekene nalo mnyango. Kunokusalela emuva kakhulu kwezinkundla zokudlalela. Okokuqala, izinkundla zincike kohulumeni bezifunda kanye nohulumeni basekhaya. Okwenziwa uhulumeni omkhulu ukulekelela kuphela. Isabiwomali kulolu hlelo u- 1,6% yesabelo sonke somnyango.

Inkinga yesibili ohulumeni bezifunda nabasekhaya abakuboni kubalulekile ukuthi kufanele kube khona izinkundla zokudlalela. Ohulumeni basekhaya uma behlaziya noma behlela uhlelo oluhlanganisile lwentuthuko olubizwa nge- Integrated Development Programme, i-IDP, abanakile ngezinkundla zokudlalela ngoba bona babona nje kubaluleke ukuthi kufanele kube khona imigwaqo, ugesi, amanzi nokunye. Kokunye noma izinkundla zemidlalo zikhona azinakiwe kahle neze nangalena kwalokho ziyagqekezwa.

Sihlalo mangisho ngithi umnyango awucacisile neze kithina uma sixoxisana nawo ngezokungcebeleka engibona ukuthi yizona futhi ezidingeka kakhulu emphakathini. Amapaki awanakiwe neze futhi emalokishini amapaki awekho kanti ngale kwezinye izindawo lapho kwakuhlala abamhlophe kuphela amapaki akhona. Ngakho-ke esikucelayo ukuthi umnyango ubhekele phela nezokungcebeleka. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)

[Chairperson, let me say that we grew up without playing fields and we knew absolutely nothing about different sporting codes, which were played exclusively by whites then. We did not bother about that; we played traditional games such as ingcabethu [indigenous skipping rope], izingendo [indigenous game played with round stones], morabaraba [indigenous board game] and many more. We had no time for boys, or going to shebeens or even doing drugs. We were competitive and very proud of ourselves. There were no TVs at the time.

Regarding the co-ordination of structures, there is still a huge problem facing this department. There is still a lot to be done as far as playing fields are concerned. Firstly, the playing fields depend greatly on provincial and local governments. The national government only helps here and there. The allocation to this programme is 1,6% of the department’s budget.

The second problem is that neither the provincial nor the local governments see it as important to have playing fields. When the local governments draw up their plans of action, or the Integrated Development Programme, IDP, they do not consider playing fields, because what matters most to them are the roads infrastructure, electricity, water, and other things. In instances where playing fields are already in existence, they are either not taken care of or they are vandalised.

Chairperson, let me say that in our discussions with the department, we did not gain any clarity regarding the issue of recreation, which I feel is most needed in our communities. The parks are not taken care of and there are no parks in the townships, whereas in the previously whites-only areas there are parks. What we are therefore asking for is that the department should also cater for recreation.]

Notwithstanding the efforts of the department, it is clear that much still needs to be done with regard to meeting the sport and training needs of the nation, particularly amongst historically disadvantaged communities. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]

Mr M O THETJENG: Hon Chairperson, Minister, Deputy Minister, MECs that are here and hon members, it is almost 11 years since we had our successful Rugby World Cup. The famous winning drop kick by Joel Stransky is still in the minds of those who remember this day vividly, which of course, is not easily forgotten. This feat, achieved by our sons, cannot be forgotten.

We also remember the African Cup of Nations hosted in this country, after replacing Kenya as the host country, which we won easily. We salute Mark Williams, who came in as a substitute and scored two goals in the 72nd and 74th minutes. These goals sealed our victory against Tunisia, and we made our mark on the world stage as a very competitive nation in soccer or football.

We don’t forget the double Olympic champion Penny Heyns, who is regarded as the greatest female breaststroke swimmer ever. Nor do we forget Josiah Thugwane, who won against all odds. These are just some of the achievements this country is proud of.

As a country, we are faced with challenges that need urgent attention. We are no longer a force to be reckoned with in some of the disciplines in which we achieved great results in the past. The question is: What is happening to our sport? Are we investing enough as a country? Is there unnecessary interference that inhibits the smooth running of our sport?

The answers to these questions can only be given by the Minister of Sport and Recreation, as the accounting officer. The budget allocated to this department is very small by any standards, and yet the demands are huge.

Minister, though there has been an increase in the budget allocation, we in the DA believe that it is not enough to really ensure that a number of programmes that we need to see implemented are actually taken care of.

There are departments that are not able to spend their allocations year in and year out, and I believe that those allocations should be directed to Sport and Recreation. They don’t know what to do with the money, and I think the Minister of Sport and Recreation knows what to do with it. You just need more money. [Applause.]

Not enough is being done to make South Africans competitive at an early age. We need that money so that we can deal with our kids at an early age. Those sportsmen and women mentioned earlier have retired or are going to retire very soon, and cannot be replaced. So, we need to get many more like them. We are failing to do the basic things because we lack the funds we need in this particular department.

Most schools in the rural areas and townships are no longer involved in sport and recreation, as our schools were in the past. You know, we were great footballers because of that. There is a memorandum of understanding signed between your department, Minister, and the Department of Education regarding administering and running school sport.

The implementation of the memorandum seems not to be proceeding, and we would want its implementation to be speeded up so that we can start having school sport administered and run properly, particularly in the rural areas where there is no sport taking place at the moment.

Sometimes signing memorandums is not a solution. However, the implementation of such agreements is what we need. We cannot depend on the national associations if we are to be a successful sporting nation. Government must intervene at school level, as well as in those areas that were neglected by apartheid, because we know what apartheid has done to this particular country.

Infrastructure is generally lacking. Where it exists maintenance is not really taking place. In Limpopo there are places, particularly in the rural areas, where tennis and netball courts have been constructed since 1992 and are not in use as we speak. Rackets are expensive for rural people. Trainers are few and far between in these areas, and parents cannot afford to send their children far from home to learn and be involved in sport. Therefore, the facilities that are there need to be utilised.

In one of the Sunday papers it was reported that our football is in crisis administratively. We need to train more sports administrators through our schooling system. Recently, your department acknowledged that there are few training providers available in sport. This means that few individuals can be trained, and this is not enough.

It has come to the DA’s attention that more and more athletes have been found to have used banned substances. It has also been established that a particular club seems to be a common factor.

The SA Institute for Drug Free Sport acknowledged a lack of capacity and appropriate legislation to deal with the clubs that are involved. These are drugs that are not readily available over the counter, but only through a prescription, which a pharmacist has to make up.

Some of these athletes seem to be innocent, and yet they are banned for life or for long periods, whereas trainers and managers are not punished. We cannot allow a situation where managers and clubs get involved in situations that lead to our athletes suffering and we don’t deal with them. They continue with their business as if nothing has happened, and I believe that there should be a way to deal with them.

The SA Institute for Drug Free Sport should be allocated enough money to provide for its infrastructure, personnel and all other resources that they need. We have been admitted to the global village and should behave as such in terms of preventing doping in sport. Our competence levels are going down. Where are people such as “the Rose of Soweto”, the Dingaan Thobelas of boxing, today? Will we ever have boxers of their calibre? Where are the Mbulelo Botiles, the Arthur Maiselas, the Harold Volbrechts, the Brian Mitchells, etc? This just shows that we need more money to prepare these particular athletes at an early age.

We have no great up-and-coming boxers that we can compare to those that are not boxing any more. This shows that we have a lot of work to do as a country. Minister, let us go back to the drawing board and shape our sport appropriately. Let us maintain facilities that are in existence, build new ones, particularly in the rural areas, and provide skilled trainers to uplift the youth.

Let us build sporting facilities that will proudly make South Africans happy, the young and the old. The elderly also need to be involved in sports such as bowling, to name but one, and various forms of recreation. Rural areas still lack these particular facilities.

Let us not just concentrate on established sports federations and ignore the grass roots. Sport provides employment to athletes and administrators. Sport provides entertainment to the general public.

Minister, I’m actually disturbed by what you said you had heard during the programme Asikhulume, namely that a player was not selected because of a language barrier. I think that something must be done, because language should not be a barrier in any sporting code. We have eleven languages here. If I speak Sesotho or Tshivenda and you don’t understand me, then you need to find an interpreter.

I believe that this really is unfair to the athlete concerned, and really hope that we will do something to make sure that this athlete goes into the squad because of his performances, and not because of the language he speaks. I believe that we will go a long way if we do that, Minister. With these few words, thank you very much.

Ms N ABRAHAM-NTANTISO (Eastern Cape): Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, MECs present here, members of the House, our own chairperson of the portfolio committee on sports in the Eastern Cape, ladies and gentlemen, I greet you.

Let me start off by saying that during the Third SA Games that were held in KwaZulu-Natal in the city of eThekwini from 24 to 30 September 2005, the Eastern Cape province participated under the leadership of the department of sports, recreation, arts and culture. We sent a team there, which came back with the following results. We got gold medals in women’s rugby and table tennis for girls. Regarding athletics - boys and girls - we got 18 medals. We got one gold medal in boxing.

Regarding medals for the disabled, as a province we lead in this category. We have disabled athletes who are part of the schools sport academy in our province. In terms of this category, we have boys who got gold medals, and our deaf girls did well in table tennis. Concerning silver medals, we got five in athletics. In rugby we got silver medals for men and we received silver medals for girls in hockey. We also received one silver medal for boxing. In golf we received one silver medal for the boys’ section.

Again, we collected more medals for the disabled. We got bronze medals in hockey for boys. In athletics we got 11 bronze medals. We got two bronze medals for boxing and one in aquatics for boys. We wish to say that, as a province, we are proud of having created opportunities for children from disadvantaged areas as individuals to participate according to their own potential because in some cases one finds that they could not get in and participate as clubs.

Once more, in swimming we got medals for the disabled and medals in football for deaf boys. Out of nine provinces, we managed to finish in fourth position, missing our target by only one gold medal.

Let me speak about equipment. The following equipment was distributed on 21 April 2006 to schools, communities and clubs throughout the Eastern Cape. Six boxing rings were distributed according to the various centres in the province and together with that we also distributed 10 boxing stations. We distributed 20 softball bags, 30 cricket bags and 30 junior dipapadi bags. These will have to be linked with the education programmes.

On a venture to bring rugby back to our children at an early age, we gave out 10 scrumming machines and also 22 Canterbury rugby kit sets as requested by Eastern Province rugby for rural areas. Six cricket boundary ropes were given out and six sight screens. Six cricket pitch covers were given out, because experience has taught us that exposure to disastrous weather destroys the pitches, hence the pitch covers.

Two sets of drums for drum majorettes were also given out so that schools could cluster for training purposes. We also provided eight agility training bags to assist with identifying injury early on before our players or learners go for tournaments, so that we can see at that point whether interventions can be made to either include or exclude players through the necessary training and according to the extent of the injury. The total cost of the equipment provided was R1 760 774 for 2005-06.

Next in my discussion is the Eastern Cape Academy of Sport. The centre of the province is in Port Elizabeth and we still have four satellites demarcated according to the old regions. The Eastern Cape Academy of Sport is proud of the achievement of its athletes and coaches.

The Eastern Cape contingent at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, consisted of the following people who are products of the sports academy: Leigh Julies and Sherwin Vries for athletics; Nontle Gwavu and Zanele Mdodana for netball; and Mona Pretorius for weightlifting. All prepared through the academy. National coachs Andile Mofu for boxing and Reece Basson for hockey, were also assisted by the academy.

Let me also mention that from Qumbu - a rural area in the Eastern Cape - we had Musa Tukela, who went through the programme. Because of his exposure through the programme, he was recruited by the Blue Bulls and now has a sponsor to go through varsity and receive the necessary education and training.

Let me come to the veterans’ games. This was as a result of the vision of our Minister, who made sure that we held veterans’ games in Amathole district in Mdantsane, so that we could involve our veterans positively and they, in turn, would assist with the development of sport in the province.

Teams for the veterans were selected to play in the National SA Masters Games held in the Nelson Mandela metro, in Port Elizabeth, from 27 March to 1 April. This event was linked with Human Rights Day. The following sporting codes were played in the province: soccer, netball, rugby, morabaraba, handball, volleyball and basketball. Trophies were awarded to the winning teams and districts.

Concerning school sport, we also agree that education has to be an active partner, beyond the memorandum of understanding. We say that the Eastern Cape managed to send all teams from various codes to national tournaments. The Eastern Cape baseball team won four gold medals in the summer games.

We hosted the national primary schools aquatics in East London. Remember, this is an area where you predominantly had white people involved. For a change, although we still have a challenge at this level, we had at least five Africans participating. Farm schools were also part of the programme but, regarding that level, we say more still needs to be done to involve them. The department provided transport, meals and attire to all Eastern Cape athletes who participated during the national events.

The memorandum of understanding, which was signed on 17 February between this department and the education department will also assist with school sport. This led to the formation of a provincial co-ordinating committee, a structure that is responsible for school sport in the province. This committee involves SGBs, teacher unions and officials from both departments. Let me say that, in terms of municipal involvement, we are still waiting for Salga to give names for the co-ordinating committee but we are still negotiating with them.

Regarding twinning agreements, as a province we do have an agreement with Lower Saxony, specifically concerning rugby and soccer for now. But we aim to work with them as regards athletics, gymnastics and handball. After the 2006 Fifa Soccer World Cup, a committee of seven from Lower Saxony will visit the province so that we can develop a document and talk about how we will service the agreement that we have in order to reach our target.

With regard to the Siyadlala Mass Participation Programme, I agree with the Minister and other speakers who have said that this is a programme that is near to the hearts of the people and it is a programme that deals with challenges facing the people on the ground. As a province, we have had 17 hubs involved and we have 67 co-ordinators who were employed during the financial year. Remember, as co-ordinators get involved, they get exposure and get further permanent employment through their MPP exposure.

We have 15 521 participants who have joined the programme, 8 328 of those are women participants and 15 000 are youth participants. We have had 20 street kids from Ginsberg and Dimbasa who joined a rehabilitation programme which was initiated by the department in conjunction with Nicro. Let me say that interest is growing at this level. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr S MKHIZE (Gauteng): Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, MECs and hon members of the House, I will present this speech on behalf of the MEC of Gauteng, Barbara Chrissie, who is engaged in the same debate in the Gauteng legislature.

I approach the task of leading the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture in Gauteng Province with both great enthusiasm and no small amount of caution. I am doing so with enthusiasm because I can think of no task more important or more exciting. In the second decade of our democratic government we have won the right to host the Fifa 2010 Soccer World Cup and hard work is afoot to ensure that we host this international event at a standard which has never been achieved in the world before. I am approaching my task with caution because of the prevailing challenges in dealing with matters of sports development both nationally and at provincial level.

I am very pleased to have an opportunity today to make this input to the debate on the national budget of Sport and Recreation South Africa.

I am extremely grateful to the national Department of Sport and Recreation for additional funding through the National Treasury for the mass participation, recreation and school sport programmes. Our province, in particular, is quite excited about this additional funding because it fits adequately into our own strategic objectives and integrated recreational programmes located in the hubs across the province.

The wide-ranging nature of the development of sport and recreation does not lend itself to complete coverage within the scope of a single budget speech. With the understanding of members, I would like to focus today on three areas of particular relevance and concern to this budget debate. These focused areas are the Integrated Recreational Programme, School Sport Programme and High Performance Sport Programme.

In an effort to increase participation in sporting activities by the historically disadvantaged communities, the province is implementing an integrated recreational programme designed to deliver sport, recreation and games in communities. Participation is open to all community members and special engagement with youth, women, children and the physically challenged is widely promoted.

We are currently managing 22 hubs, of which 10 new ones will be introduced during the 2006-07 financial year, thus bringing it to a total of 32 recreational centres across the Gauteng Province. These hubs are fully owned by communities and also serve as an engine for promoting social cohesion, nation building and healthier and safer communities.

Management and co-ordination of these hubs is done in partnership with the local government to ensure quality service delivery. This year alone, the department is spending R4 million on salaries, sporting equipment, capacity building for coaches to raise the standard of sport played at recreational centres and schools around them as well as organising school holiday games.

The programme in the hubs includes the training of community members and volunteers in sports administration, coaching and technical officiating. Participants from these recreational hubs are further exposed to major sporting events across the province such as 702’s “Walk the Talk”, the City to City Marathon and 94.7’s Cycle Challenge. We also have a plan to ensure that an opportunity is created for participants in this programme to go through professional high performance development training.

In moulding the sports champions of tomorrow, the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, in collaboration with the Department of Education, is co-ordinating the School Sport Programme. The aim of the programme is to promote school sport and, in particular, to revive the school sport culture throughout the province.

A memorandum of understanding between the departments was signed defining the roles regarding sport, library services, arts and culture. At the same time a memorandum of agreement between the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture and the Gauteng Department of Education that will spell out the joint co-ordination and management of the School Sport Programme is on the drawing board. The memorandum of agreement, which is expected to be signed during this financial year, will also cover issues regarding competitive and mass-based school sport programmes.

Appropriate structures, including the integrated provincial school sport body, are being put in place to spearhead the activities of the programme. An amount of R7,8 million has been allocated to implement the programme this financial year. More than half of the budget will be utilised for capacity building of educators in sports management, coaching and officiating. The capacity building programme will ensure that learners are equipped with the requisite skills at an early stage, consequently improving their performance and no doubt building champions for tomorrow.

Feeding into the high performance programme are the Masakhane Games held in partnership with the local government, sports federations and sports fora with the objective of identifying and developing talent as well as enhancing the skills of coaches, technical officials and administrators.

In recognition of the importance of the representation in all national teams, the province is financially supporting budding athletes to realise their full academic and sporting potential. Priority sporting codes are soccer, rugby, netball, cricket, athletics, swimming and boxing.

An important aspect of the programme is the training of at least 15 athletes annually to take part in the national academy for participation in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and other national and international games. An amount of R5,6 million has been allocated to the Development of Budding Athletes Programme during the 2006-07 financial year.

Integral to the High Performance Sport Programme is the Gauteng Sports Academy, to be established during this financial year. Discussions are expected to be concluded between the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee and the Gauteng Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture.

Furthermore, the Gauteng Province is delivering on its goal of nurturing and investing in young talent as it has established a partnership with five tertiary institutions and their high performance sports centre. To date, 110 sports development bursaries have been awarded to students.

However, on close scrutiny of the conditionality of the grants for both the Mass Participation Programme and school sport, which are expensive across the MTEF - that is, the amount of about R30 million - we are faced with major staffing and programmatic issues. I have to highlight the fact that the grants are inflexible in cross funding our competitive sports project, which to a greater extent is underfunded currently.

When we received the initial indicative allocation, we hoped that this fund could be used across the area of MPP and school sport generally, staffing and programmatic issues. On close scrutiny of the Division of Revenue’s grant policy guidelines, this does not seem possible and will have an adverse effect on our delivery on the programmes. The current number of staff allocated to the two projects is extremely inadequate and will require us to ensure that relevant staffing is commensurate with the allocated budget.

I request that this item be engaged with the National Treasury, Sport and Recreation South Africa and Minmec as a matter of principle and that we try to facilitate some relaxation to accommodate the challenges as raised in this presentation.

In conclusion, I would like to convey special thanks to everybody in sport and recreation that has made the past financial year the success that it has been, and who will once again contribute to making the coming year successful. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Select Committee on Education and Recreation in the NCOP, in particular for their support and commitment.

I would also like to thank the members of Minmec and the senior management service staff and their staff in the Gauteng Provincial Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture and everybody involved in the running of sport and recreation in Gauteng and South Africa, from the grassroots level to the very top.

We all know that sport and recreation will never be able to function without volunteers and community workers. I would therefore like to make use of this opportunity to acknowledge the role that the volunteers played in bringing the joy of sport and recreation to all of us. We are truly grateful for the contribution that you make. Thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]

Mrs J N VILAKAZI: Chairperson, hon Minister, and hon members present, while the IFP supports the Budget Vote it would remiss of us not to raise a number of concerns and problems relating to the sports arena.

The first issue is transformation. Almost every day we hear of the commitment of federations, administrators and coaches to transform various sports. We now also have a transformation charter in place that is supposed to guide all macrobodies, national and provincial, federal and at club level on the need to transform sport. Commitment is one thing, implementation and visibility are quite another. The fact that this so- called commitment is not demonstrated in our rainbow nation is mere lip service and a tactic to buy some time.

Government funding of sport is inadequate, to say the least. We have to ask why millions and millions of rands are not distributed from the national lottery fund. This money could so easily be channelled into sport development, the building of new facilities, training programmes, the academy and other projects for sport development and access. We therefore call on the government to allow more of the lotto proceeds to be channelled to sport and recreation.

Despite these concerns I have just mentioned, the IFP still supports the Budget Vote. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]

Mr K D MOLUSI (Northern Cape): Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister and hon members, in the year that we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the youth uprising on 16 June, it is incumbent upon us to focus our efforts on the need to promote participation in sport by our youth.

In the Northern Cape particularly, where the lack of facilities has hampered performance and participation in sport, we deem it necessary to heed the call that our young people need increased access to sporting opportunities. Having said that, there are several intensified programmes that the provincial department of sport, arts and culture has embarked on.

Our high performance programme will see the establishment and development of quality district teams in many codes. This will be in preparation for major national and international tournaments, such as the SA Games, Zone 6 Games, Commonwealth Games and All Africa Games. These teams will receive continuous training from the provincial sports academy and will be part of the integral programme of the district satellite academies that are being established this year.

Allow me to point out that the Northern Cape’s sports council is currently developing a provincial sports charter and its aim is to address all issues relating to transformation in sport, including the issue of women in sport.

Hon members, school sport has now been restructured according to the national and provincial collaboration document. A new co-ordinating committee has been established in the Northern Cape and includes the Department of Education. The focus of this committee will be the administration and implementation of school sport.

Furthermore, a school sport mass participation programme has been introduced so as to promote participation in and development of sport in schools. Currently, 32 schools throughout the province have been identified as pilot schools to implement this programme. The programme received a conditional grant of R1,2 million for the current financial year and this will be increased to R1,92 million and R3 million in the 2007-08 and 2008- 09 financial years respectively. As part of our provincial soccer indaba resolutions, the province will focus on implementing football courses in all five districts. The emphasis will be on administration, coaching and refereeing courses, with special attention being given to women’s football.

Boxing in the Northern Cape has consistently produced champions. Due to the lack of promoters in the province, access to professional bouts has been hampered. This forces our boxers to fight under the banner of other provinces.

As per resolution of the boxing indaba held last year, a committee comprising ex-professional boxers, together with the amateur boxing federation, was established. This committee’s objectives include sourcing funds for development, developing a strategy to revive professional boxing in the province and monitoring, administering and evaluating the transition of amateur boxers to professionalism.

The consequent lack of swimming pools in previously disadvantaged communities impacts to such an extent that the code lacks set standards amongst blacks in most townships. As a national mandate, Sport and Recreation SA identified swimming as a priority sporting code for the Siyadlala Mass Participation Programme. Five mass participation programme activity co-ordinators will be employed in these areas to implement the learn-to-swim programme. Swimming SA has, in addition to this, appointed a development official in the province to oversee the developmental programmes. The Siyadlala Mass Participation Programme received a conditional grant of R5 million for the current financial year and as such will be extended to 27 local municipalities, including the recently incorporated Moshaweng municipality, which was previously referred to as a cross-border municipality.

Communities will benefit immensely from the programme in terms of job creation, capacity building courses and promoting social cohesion. It needs to be mentioned that this programme is only sustainable on the basis of conditional grants being sustained and provided.

Indigenous games will be intensified in the province, focusing on establishing clubs and municipal structures. Municipal, district and provincial trials will be held in order to select a provincial team to represent the province in the forthcoming National Indigenous Games Festival in Mpumalanga.

Following our efforts not to be excluded from the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, the Northern Cape and the Sol Plaatje Municipality in Kimberley really appreciates the announcement made by the national Minister that consideration will be given to Kimberley as a practice venue or training camp. We are committed to making use of all opportunities availed to us to ensure that our people also derive benefits from the country’s status as the host of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. As South Africans in the Northern Cape, we are very confident that the 2010 Soccer World Cup will bring increased job opportunities and economic growth to the country and we want to be part of these irreplaceable benefits.

In conclusion, sport and recreation has introduced a new programme, which will be implemented for all Public Service Employees, aimed at addressing team building, stress relief and promoting a healthy lifestyle. The first provincial games for civil servants will kick off in September this year, followed by the National Indigenous Games Festival. The Northern Cape will certainly join other provinces in this venture.

I must indicate that the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in the Northern Cape supports this Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]

Dr F J VAN HEERDEN: Chairperson, the issue that I am going to address, strictly speaking, actually does not belong in the Minister’s portfolio, but if you look at it in a broader light, it definitely does belong there. It also embraces other portfolios like Arts and Culture. There are provinces that also accommodate Arts and Culture in this respect. It also embraces Environmental Affairs and Tourism, which I will also address this week. It also embraces Public Enterprises.

I am referring to animal racing. Animal racing definitely entails sport and recreation. Let me make it clear right from the outset, Chairperson - and that hon member is quite amused and I would like to enter into a debate with him - that my party is against the betting aspect but not against the racing aspect. We are not in favour of the betting aspect of animal racing, particularly dog racing, greyhound racing, but the recreational aspect of animal racing is definitely acceptable to us.

Greyhound racing is an industry that continues in spite of the fact that it was ruled illegal in the old South Africa in 1946. I don’t know whether you approve of that or not. It was ruled illegal in 1946, again in 1976 and also in 1982 and 1983 in the old South Africa. It is still illegal. In the rural areas - and this is the important point - I am informed that there is a groundswell of support at grassroots levels for hunting with dogs. These people practise their culture and traditional sport by hunting hares and antelope.

Dit het ook ’n invloed op omgewingsake. Dit is ’n aspek wat verantwoordelik aangespreek moet word deur die regering. Sodra dit ontwikkel in ’n weddenskapelement natuurlik, dan betree ’n mens openbare ondernemings se terrein. Die versoek aan die ministerie is om net ’n oop gemoed te hê, te luister na wat gesê word en iemand van hierdie vier departemente moet die inisiatief neem. Die vraag is wie gaan die inisiatief neem? Daar is baie te sê daarvoor en daarteen, maar mens moet met ’n oop gemoed kyk na wat die voor- en nadele ten opsigte daarvan was. Daar is baie verwys na die gebrekkige fasiliteite in die landelike gebiede. Dit is ’n tipe sport wat werklikwaar nie ’n groot kapitaaluitleg verg, alvorens daardie fasiliteite in die landelike gebiede beskikbaar gestel kan word nie. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[This also has an impact on environment affairs. It is an aspect that the government must address in a responsible manner. Of course, as soon as a betting element develops, then one is entering the field of public enterprises. The request to the Ministry is just to have an open mind, to listen to what is being said, and for someone from these four departments to take the initiative. The question is, who is going to take the initiative? There is a lot to be said both for and against it, but one must keep an open mind when looking at what the advantages and the drawbacks are in this respect. A great deal has been said with reference to the inadequate facilities in the rural areas. This is a type of sport that really does not require a large capital outlay, until those facilities can be made available in the rural areas. I thank you.]

Ms S K MNUMZANA (Free State): Hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, MECs present here, members of the NCOP, hon members, ladies and gentlemen …

… Modulasetulo ke batla ho araba sebui se sa tswa tloha mona, pele ke kena ditabeng. Re bua ka ntshetsopele ya dipapadi, yena o re bolella ka dintja le dikatse. Ka Sesotho bare, ‘monokotshwai ha o butswe ho ya ka takatso ya tshwene’. Selemong sena re lokela ho tsepamisa maikutlo a rona diketekong tse mmalwa tsa ho qeta dilemo tse pakahatsang nalane ya dintwa tse hlanakilweng ke baetapele ba rona tokolohong ena eo re leng ho yona, ho fihlella Afrika Borwa e lokolohileng ebile ena le demokerasi.

Selemong sena re keteka dilemo tse 30 esale ho bile le boitseko ba Soweto, ebile e le dilemo tse leshome re fihlelletse demokerasi ya rona le Molaotheo wa rona. Re boela re keteka selemo sa bo50 kamora boitseko ba basadi kgahlanong le dipasa, dilemo tse lekgolo ho tloha ka selemo sa 1906, nakong ya ntwa ya Bambata kgahlanong le kgethollo e soto ya lekgetho, boitsekong ba ho fumana phihlello e lokolohileng ya naha, hammoho le ho qeta dilemo tse lekgolo tsa boitseko nakong ya Satyagaha ya Mahatma Gandhi. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)

[… Chairperson, I want to respond to the last speaker before I proceed. We are talking here about the development of sport, the last speaker was telling us about games of cat and mouse. In Sesotho they say: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. This year we have to focus on a few anniversary celebrations of the liberation struggle that was fought by our leaders, who fought until South Africa got this democracy.

This year we celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the Soweto uprisings and 10 years of democracy and the Constitution. We also celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the Women’s March against the pass laws and a century since the 1906 Bambata Rebellion against racism in tax laws, in a struggle for the liberation of the country, and we complete one hundred years of struggle during the time of Satyagraha of Mahatma Gandhi.]

All the struggles are anchored today by our democratic Constitution that enshrines the rights of citizens, regardless of race, colour and creed. It is against this background that we as the Free State regard sport as a very important part of society. It is a barometer of how society is organised.

For that reason our province too has a responsibility to use sport to assist our people to move in a particular direction, the direction of a deracialised Free State, that is sensitive to gender issues, a province that is biased in favour of those at risk, children, the youth, women, the aged and people with disabilities. The dignity of these people must be restored. Their right to have a better life must be protected. Sport is not only about getting people active but is also recognised as a major contributor to economic development and job creation through sport.

The Free State’s Department of Sport, Arts and Culture is committed to empowering municipalities, as well as communities, on the promotion of sport within communities. Regarding the suitable management of sports facilities, we also want to empower local municipalities as implementing agents to effectively and efficiently implement the Building for Sport and Recreation Programme, through which employment opportunities for local communities can be maximised.

Modulasetulo, lenaneo lena le bopilwe ka nehelano ya letoto la dibaka tsa ditshebeletso tse fapafapaneng, kapa ho ntlafatsa tse teng. Bothata boo re dulang re na le bona mme re tobane le bona ke hobane baahi ka bobona ba senya dibaka tsena tseo ho nehelanwang ka tsona kapa tse ntlafaditsweng. Ke ka hona re batlang ho ipiletsa ho baahi hore ba nke boikarabelo bo kopanetsweng tlhokomelong ya dibaka tsena tse ntseng di ntlafatswa. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)

[Chairperson, this programme has been developed through providing a series of different places or improving those that are already in existence. The problem that we always have is of communities vandalising the improved or provided places. That is why we appeal to communities to take collective responsibility in looking after these places that are being developed.]

Chairperson, we share the Deputy Minister’s concern in his speech when he said:

We are disadvantaging ourselves by continuing to peripheralise the sports sector as an unimportant pastime.

In an effort to give the sports sector the attention it deserves, we held a sports indaba with our stakeholders, including municipalities, on 12 November 2005, with the objective of sharing ideas towards improving the Free State Province’s sports, deliberating and developing a common view and understanding of issues relating to sports in the Free State, enabling the department to holistically view the sporting environment and challenges, and finally, to develop a programme to address the challenges facing the Free State sporting communities.

The Free State Province has won the bid to host the 2007 SA Games. In the words of the Vice-President of Sascoc, Ms Hajera Kajee, and I quote:

The South African Games is the flagship programme for the development of our juniors to become future stars in sport.

The winning of the bid comes with challenges to all of us involved in sport, irrespective of the sporting codes that we are involved in. To us the hosting of these games is the acid test for our preparedness to host some of the games during the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. We therefore dare not fail because we shall have failed the people of South Africa in general, and of the Free State in particular.

Talent needs to be nurtured by mentors and coaches. This is where the Free State Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has signed an agreement with the Central University of Technology to develop and present a wide range of learning programmes and short courses, focusing on sports education, sport and exercise, sport science and nutrition, sport psychology and sports management. This learning progress was introduced in January 2004. It is imperative to mention that all learning materials are being developed within the national qualifications framework and our qualifications are accredited certificate courses.

We agree with our Minister, Rev Stofile, when he pointed out in his speech:

… market forces are not sympathetic to the poor … we have a responsibility to intervene and ensure that sport and recreation unlock their potential in transforming and developing the underdeveloped parts and people of our country.

This is why, as the Free State Province, we have launched the first government-funded high performance and coaching development centre in the country, which is the Free State Sports Science Institute. This is a centre that has as purpose to provide equitable access to qualified sports science rehabilitation and training services.

Moruti Makhenkesi Stofile o supile ka nepahalo ha a ne a re: [Rev Makhenkesi Stofile has correctly pointed out, when he said:]

The transformation agenda cannot be left to the whims of the market forces.

Re a elellwa hore dipapadi ke boikopanyo ba boikgethelo ba batho. Empa sena ha se kgontshe bolokolohi ba dipapadi ho fetoha ho lebisa nakong ya phediso ya kgethollo ya semorabe le bong. Ha ho mmuso o ka phuthang matsoho ha ditho di eba kgahlano le maikemisetso le mawala a rona, di bile di le kgahlano le moya wa Molao wa Motheo. Ke ka hoo lefapha le thusang mme le tataisa mekgatlo dintlheng tse amanang le leano lena.

Phephetso e re tjametseng ke ya hore na re tswela pele jwang ka mora dikatleho tseo re di fihlelletseng jwaloka puso ena eo e leng hona e busang. Re lokela ho di sebedisa ho aha porofensi e kopaneng, e tsotellang le e nang le thahasello. Re phephetswa ho jala moya wa ho lwantsha kgethollo ya semorabe hara dipapadi, batsamaisi le mekgatlo.

Mohlomong re tlameha ke ho etsa sena hobane ba bang ha re bua kahore re rata ho hodisa dipapadi ka hare ho bana, bona ba bona kamoo ba tshwanetseng ho hodisa dipapadi ka hare ho diphoofolo ka teng.

Re boetse re phephetswa ho batalatsa makukuno hore batho ba habo rona ba fihlelle menyetla ya dipapadi le boikgathollo, disebediswa le dibaka tsa monyaka, ha mmoho le mehlodi ka ntle ho kgethollo. Tsena ke diphephetso tse re tobileng, mme re lokela ke hore re di fedise. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)

[We have noted that people choose sport to get together as a group, but this doesn’t demonstrate any change in sport in the eradication of racism and gender discrimination. This is not a government to sit back and relax when things go against its plans and efforts as well as the Constitution. This is why the department has intervened and guided the organisation of matters affecting this programme.

The challenge we are now facing is how to move forward, after the success achieved by this government. We need to use these achievements to build a unified province that cares about aspirations. We are being challenged to spread the spirit of fighting racism in sport, management and organisations.

Perhaps we must do this because when we talk about developing sport among children, some regard animals as more important than children.

Another challenge is that we need to address all the concerns so that our people can access sport and recreation opportunities, facilities, entertainment centres, as well as resources without being subjected to racism. These are the challenges we are faced with and we have to bring them to an end.]

In conclusion, at this stage let me share with you one of my most relevant phrases that has inspired and motivated me to go on, when I have nothing left but the will to go on. It is what Khalil Gibran, a prolific Lebanese writer, poet and visual artist, said:

You are your own forerunner, and the towers that you have builded are but the foundation your giant-self. And that self too shall be a foundation.

And I too am my own forerunner, for the long shadow stretching before me at sunrise shall gather under my feet at the noon hour. Yet another sunrise shall lay another shadow before me, and that also shall be gathered at another noon.

Always have we been our own forerunners, and always shall we be. And all that we have gathered and shall gather shall be but seeds for fields yet unploughed. We are the fields and the ploughmen, the gatherers and the gathered.

Remember that the human spirit is born to triumph, no matter the challenges that we face, we must never give up. [Interjections.]

Freistata e tshehetsa ditekanyetso tsena. Mme ke re ‘kgomo tseo, le manamane a tsona’. Ke a leboha. [Mahofi.] [Free State supports these sentiments. Therefore I say “peace shall reign”. I thank you. [Applause.]]

Mrs A N D QIKANE: Chairperson, hon Minister, dignitaries and hon members, the budget as presented by the hon Minister shows a direction of prioritisation.

Ga ke simolola, ga ke bone gore e lebega jang. Xa ndiphefumla, ijongeka ngolu hlobo.

[In the first place, I cannot make sense of it. In my opinion, it looks like this …]

The budget before us is certainly exciting and a bit better than any we ever had, considering percentage increases in its areas. This should also address longstanding problems, as mentioned, like unaffordable facilities for the people.

Most of this budget seems to be going towards the World Cup preparations, as expected. However, it does not seem to cover facility development well, as there is a small amount allocated to bringing facilities that are inaccessible within reach of disadvantaged communities.

Umzekelo, amabala egalufa awekho ezindaweni ezihlala abantu abamnyama, ngakumbi ezilalini nasezilokishini zaseMpuma Koloni. [For example, you don’t find golf courses in black residential areas, especially in townships and rural areas in the Eastern Cape.]

They are also not accessible to communities a bit closer to them, because they are private and our poor people cannot afford the fees to enter these golf courses. This is just one example. There are others which fall under this category, like swimming pools. I trust that the hon Minister will take serious notice of this so that he also doesn’t have to travel from Alice to East London to play golf. [Laughter.]

Another issue one would love to see being the focus of this budget to be implemented is the development of our indigenous games. The hon Minister himself knows how rich the Eastern Cape and the rest of South Africa are with regard to these games. I am sure that most of the members of this House have played dibeke, iintonga, umrabaraba, undize, njalo-njalo [dodge ball, stick fighting, mrabaraba, hide and seek, etc]. These games should open doors economically for many of our black people and celebrate our own creativeness as South Africans.

Moruti Stofile kopo ya me ke gore tsweetswee … [Rev Stofile, please will you …]

… adjust the budget to accommodate the above …

… ukuze abantwana bethu bakwazi ukuzibandakanya kuyo yonke le midlalo. [… so that our children can participate in all these games.]

The UDM stands to support your budget.

The DEPUTY MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Hon members, the legislative programme of our department will … [Interjections.] … Dumelang bo ntate. [Greetings, gentlemen.]

The legislative programme of our department will enjoy the attention of both Houses of Parliament soon. Prominent amongst these are the 2010 Fifa World Cup Special Measures Bill that seeks to amend all “non-money” matters that may impede the implementation of government guarantees that were provided during our bidding phase.

The Bill, currently tagged as a section 75 Bill, will have to be amended to facilitate the delivery of infrastructural projects as well as the signing of the City Host Agreement. The amendments may affect provinces and local authorities. It cannot be accommodated in the Bill at present as the Bill is currently already through Cabinet, and we have to meet the deadline of 31 July 2006. So, if we come back with amendments, that will be because of late submissions by various sectors that did not meet the deadline for comments.

The second one is the Safety at Sports and Recreation Events Bill which will be put to Cabinet for consideration very shortly. This significant and substantial piece of legislation is a sequel to the 2001 Ellis Park tragedy and is intended to minimise the risk of such a disaster occurring again in future in our country. It compels stadium authorities and event organisers to take responsibility and be accountable for the safety of participants at sports events, both off and on the field. It also constitutes a very important tool in the security arrangements for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

We also have two amending Bills - the Sport and Recreation Amendment Bill and the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Amendment Bill. Both these Bills have been passed by Cabinet and will serve in this House shortly.

The Sport and Recreation Amendment Bill is aimed at improving the governance of our sports federations. It gives the Minister of Sport and Recreation the right to intervene where the actions of federations threaten to bring sport into disrepute.

The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Amendment Bill is aimed at improving the efficiency of the institute in its efforts to counteract the utilisation of banned performance-enhancing substances by athletes. This has been mentioned by all of us this afternoon, but this will align South Africa with international best practice.

The Select Committee on Education and Recreation, I understand, had decided to put a motion to the House to ratify the International Convention Against Doping in Sport, which is sponsored by the UN. The convention harmonises the anti-doping initiatives of the sports movement as well as governments. Once a sufficient number of countries have ratified the convention, governments will be compelled to implement the World Anti-doping Code. Failure to do so could result in sanctions that could even impact on the participation of the offending country’s athletes in international sporting events.

As a leading nation, we want to comply with this convention. We therefore take the opportunity to thank the Select Committee on Education and Recreation for their support in this regard.

Despite some progress, we still have a long road to travel in the sector to achieve the objectives of the White Paper. Sport has been trivialised in our country. It is regarded as frivolous and unimportant, even though it is a multibillion rand industry. It contributes more than 2% to the gross domestic product of our country. In fact, sport daily occupies the time of the majority of our people, and it forms part of the psyche of the majority of our people.

Even the UN gave credence to the role of sport by declaring 2005 “The International Year of Physical Education and Sport”. And today, because of the important role sport can play in development and peace, they speak of sport for development and peace.

In particular, we must look at the tourism potential of sport and recreation. We know that the sports tourism industry in South Africa does not match the international norm of 30% of all tourism.

Sports tourism in South Africa is in fact totally underdeveloped. Being a provincial and local competency and given the small budget for this sector in these spheres of government, there is, in my opinion, substantial room for growth in the sector.

Our human resource needs are also enormous. At the entry level of community mass-based sport and recreation, we are in need of suitably trained and skilled people. Eliminating the lack of qualified people at this level is important because the foundation is vital to ensure quality at the top end.

We also need quality physical education teachers in all our schools, not only in the more privileged ones that can afford to have them. To start with, we must restore school sport to the status it enjoyed in the past, a status that saw the sports fields of our country flooded with learners, especially on a Wednesday afternoon during in-house and interschool matches.

But then we need to understand the difference between physical education and school sport. The school-going youth enjoyed at least two periods of physical education per week. They don’t any more. Compulsory physical education will truly enhance participation in physical activity in our society, and it will address the low levels of participation currently estimated, Minister, to be restricted to only 25% of our population.

Only 11% of our women participate regularly. Just last week, a new report indicated that young black girls are exposed to the greatest health risk in our country at the moment because of their lack of involvement in physical activity.

To promote participation, we need qualified teachers who will ensure that our young people are introduced to sport and recreation properly, trusting that it will encourage lifelong participation.

If we employ two qualified physical education teachers in each of our 27 000 schools in South Africa, one for boys and one for girls, we would have provided more than 54 000 job opportunities. We obviously are in agreement that we need more than two physical education teachers in every school.

The rise in antisocial behaviour amongst our youth, unfortunately, parallels the demise of school sport and physical education. We have to look no further than prioritising the reintroduction of these activities in our schools.

The memorandum of agreement between the two departments, which has been alluded to this afternoon, facilitates this. We are now implementing the provisions of that agreement.

The Department of Education shares our concern about the absence of physical education in schools. They tell us that it is now being reintroduced and the movement component comprises 33% of the compulsory Life Orientation Curriculum. That translates into 40 minutes of activity per week. Although it equates to the recommended daily exercise requirement to remain healthy, we would like to see more time for physical education weekly.

Sport and Recreation South Africa has also introduced programmes that now see our youth competing more regularly and on more equal terms.

During the course of this year, we will see 798 schools participating in 56 clusters comprising schools in close proximity to one another. The aim here is to facilitate regular interaction between them. It will initially involve more than 200 000 learners to start off. Let me say that the lack of sufficient financial resources constitutes the only impediment to a more expansive programme in this regard. Our aim is eventually to see all 27 000 schools in our country involved in the project.

School sport has to be fully funded so that no learner is prevented from participating because of personal financial constraints. This programme will require the involvement of large numbers of teachers, volunteers and even learners. Of course these “best laid plans of mice and men” will come to naught if the infrastructure for launching them is not available.

Appropriate facilities at schools are absolutely essential if the memorandum of agreement between the two departments is going to mean anything. What this means in practice is that sports facilities should be a norm when we build or upgrade a school. The Minister alluded to that in his speech. If we say a school has to have a blackboard, there have to be toilet facilities for boys and girls, we should say that part of the norm is that there must be a multipurpose sporting facility.

We all know is that the sports facility project has been transferred to the Municipal Infrastructure Grant. We are not happy with the outcome of that, because this is not prioritised by the IDPs of our local authorities.

We therefore call on you as hon members, when you go to your constituencies and when you engage with local authorities, to make sure that sport and recreation facilities are prioritised in their IDPs. This is the only way we will be able to access money in the MIG to unlock the full potential of our young people back there.

I trust that the support of this hon House will allow us to speak next year about the successes that we have had in prioritising the IDPs and unlocking the full potential of our people. That is the only thing that stands between us and the true transformation of sport in our great country. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr K PANDAY (KwaZulu-Natal): Mr Chairman, I thank the hon Minister for the presentation of his budget today. We have the will, we have the ability and, above all, we have great human resources in this country. The hon Minister and other role-players in sport are taking South Africa to new heights.

More than 10 years ago, we were in isolation. We were a forgotten generation with no future in the world of sport. I recall, on a very personal note, some 45 years ago, when I ran the 100-metre race in 10 seconds. That was very close to the world record, but because of apartheid, I was lost.

The hon Minister echoed our feelings when he said today and I quote: “Today is much better than it used to be in our time.” Today, we are the envy of the world, a great sporting nation with a future beckoning us. We have a great future ahead.

However, hon Minister, I require you to let the NCOP have details about the financing of the stadia for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The hon Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation has announced the construction of two new stadia - one in Cape Town and the other in Durban. Could the hon Minister provide clarity today about how much money the national government will make available for the stadium in Durban?

Furthermore, of equal importance will be the various training grounds and the team-based camps. Do we have sufficient funds? The answer is most certainly no.

In order to raise the expertise and professionalism of our players, we need more money. The hon Minister must encourage the nine provinces to invest their budgets profitably and to the fullest.

In Europe and in countries like Australia, sports flourish because there is a very strong emphasis on infrastructure and the development of human resources.

Mr Minister, our country has debated and analysed the woes besetting football in our country. Our country has great talents in all sporting codes. These talents have to be identified, nurtured and retained. Some time ago, our under-20 team beat Brazil - with Ronaldhino playing for the Brazilian side. However, when they returned, some of them gave up sport. What a loss to our country. What a disappointment to these youngsters. Are they lost in the same way that I was lost?

It is important that incentives are provided for the youth to join clubs, and that schools form clubs that are affiliated to the various federations.

There are two other areas that require clarity. One is the issue of an effective provincial sports academy and the other one is funding. There is a need for the provincial academy system to change, and the government must ensure that provinces set aside reasonable amounts in their budgets for sports promotion.

If one examines the amounts allocated for sport and recreation by the various provinces, then it is clear that sports cannot improve. Is the hon Minister satisfied with the budget each province has, and is he convinced that the country will be ready for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, with the infrastructure in place in each province? If yes, South Africans must be on top of the world. If no, what are the hon Minister’s plans over the next four years?

The hon Mr Tolo, the Chairperson of the Select Committee, expressed his disappointment today when he spoke about crumbs. I think he expressed that most eloquently.

Could the hon Minister tell this House what is happening in the various provinces regarding provincial memoranda of understanding, MOUs, between the sport and the education departments? Have all provinces signed this memorandum of understanding? The hon Minister once stated, I think in the National Assembly, that sport in schools is treated like an orphan child or a stepchild. Mr Minister, what step are being taken to take school sport out of this orphanage?

It is my considered view that the hon Minster had an excellent flagship called ``Building Sport and Recreation’’, BSR. The BSR saw a boom. Development became the order of the day. Throughout the country, sportsfields were built by way of grants made directly to the various provincial sports departments.

However, this funding was changed to the Municipal Infrastructure Grant by the local government. This change slowed down the building of sportsfields. I implore the hon Minister, with respect, to revert to the old system of BSR through the provincial sport and recreation departments.

Today it was very heartening to hear the Deputy Minister making a statement on the reintroduction of physical education. Sir, I take my hat off to you. I just hope that I am going to be able to follow the developments in terms of that pronouncement you have made today. I do hope that physical education comes back, because I have always felt - I was a PE master myself

• that being without PE is the reason we have so much lethargy and people that are very obese.

In conclusion, Mr Minister, procrastination is the thief of time. Let’s strike while the iron is hot. The time is now. Let’s provide more funds to the provinces, and with the spirit that prevails from you, Mr Minister, and the Deputy Minister and all those involved in sports promotion, we will most certainly win.

Hon Minister you have our support. Thank you. [Applause.]

Ms J WITBOOI (Western Cape): Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, and MECs present, I stand here to congratulate Minister Stofile on his Budget Vote, especially for articulating, quite correctly, the challenges we face in addressing underdevelopment and redressing the disparities of the past in respect of sport and recreation.

The Western Cape provincial government agrees that a key challenge to ensure redress is the availability of and access to sports and recreational facilities. We therefore have a responsibility to move faster in increasing access to sport and recreation, particularly for the rural and farming communities.

We fully agree with the Minister that rural and farming communities have a right to participate in sport and, in this regard, our provision of facilities programme must take cognisance of the plight of these communities.

The notion that certain sporting codes are the exclusive domain and territory of a certain racial group must be addressed through the provision of suitable facilities for the marginalised communities.

I want to take advantage of this platform to caution some of the municipalities that are not playing their part and ensuring that communities have access to facilities. I want to urge the Minister of Sport and Recreation to put mechanisms in place that will ensure that the money or the funding through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant provides for the provision of sports and recreational facilities and the improvement of access, and is not to be used for other municipal functions.

The Western Cape views the challenge of access seriously and, from our side, we play our part to ensure that this is resolved in appropriate forums by all stakeholders. The Minister’s voice in this campaign to improve access to facilities would beyond doubt add much-needed weight.

Let me also take this opportunity to acknowledge the increased contribution to school sport by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, enabling it to extend its hubs for the Mass Participation Programme, and thus contributing to the building of social and human capital.

The Western Cape is particularly grateful for the first direct contribution to school sport to the tune of R4,85 million. This significant allocation has helped the Western Cape provincial department tremendously in realising its mandate of rolling out organised activities at an accelerated pace to the schools of the province.

The Western Cape is arguably seized with one of the highest levels of drug abuse, crime and gangsterism. In this regard, we will be expanding our Sport Stepping Stones Programme’’ to most schools by appointing 96 more assistants. TheStepping Stones Programme’’ is a response to address these social ills and it is targeted at youth at risk. It identifies youth in crime-affected areas and develops them into sports assistants that are deployed in targeted schools.

This grant will ensure that the youth of our province are actively engaged in sport and recreation activities and are less at risk in terms of these social ills.

We want to succeed in the fight to bring about a better life for all. We believe that school sport must be sustained against all odds. In this regard, the province has launched school sport programmes aimed at the resuscitation of Wednesdays as a dedicated day for school sport competitions and activities. We believe that a dedicated day will bring about a renewed focus and be a sustainable programme. If we succeed in sustaining school sport and other interventions at schools, I am convinced that we would have won half the battle in relation to present challenges in unearthing and developing new talent.

Regarding the 2010 Fifa World Cup, we welcome the pronouncement by Minister Stofile reaffirming our ability as a country to be ready to host 2010. However, as a resident of the Western Cape, I am concerned about mixed messages that are sending out wrong and, often, very damaging remarks about the country’s ability to deliver on 2010.

I am referring here specifically to the issue around the construction of Green Point Stadium. We need unity of purpose on this issue, and issues that have the potential to trigger unwarranted confusion must be addressed collectively and appropriately on the right platforms. All the spheres of government must be seen to be talking with one voice, and one voice only, for the greater good of the country. It is therefore important for me to state the facts in this regard. The first draft of the design of the new stadium will be submitted to the National Treasury by the end of this month.

The Western Cape provincial government is in the process of preparing legislation for the establishment of a special purpose vehicle to drive the process for the construction of the stadium. A final design will be submitted to the National Treasury by the end of October 2006. A tender programme for the construction of the stadium will commence thereafter, and will awarded by the end of January next year, after which construction will start. [Applause.]

We cannot afford the petty party political agenda lowering the credibility of the country through such negative media reports as we have witnessed in the recent past. The opportunities presented by 2010 must be used to ensure that all our people share benefits accruing from the planned development now, and after the event.

On behalf of the Western Cape, I would like to thank the Minister, Rev Stofile, for his hard work and commitment to bring about a better life for all our people. I wish him all the very best with his responsibility as the custodian of sport and recreation in our country. As a province we support the budget allocation. Thank you. [Applause.]

Mr M A SULLIMAN: Thank you, Minister, and Deputy Minister. It is indeed an honour for me to participate in this Budget Vote debate here before us today; it is certainly a privilege. I would like to congratulate Cassius Baloyi on his tremendous feat last Wednesday night. Not only has he achieved international superstar boxing status, but he has also raised the bar in South Africa. We believe that this achievement underscores the quality and commitment we as South Africans expect of our sportspeople.

It is important to ensure that sports and recreational facilities are available to all South African communities. Participation in sport and recreation activities should reflect our country’s demographics. The removal of obstacles that preclude specific sections of the community from participation is crucial. This cannot be left entirely in the hands of individual sporting codes or local communities, both of whom require support and encouragement.

Sport and recreation are an integral part of restructuring and developing a healthier society. They should cut across all developmental programmes and be accessible and affordable for all South Africans, including those in the rural areas, the young and the elderly.

We must also emphasise the point that amongst the sportspeople on whom we must continue to focus are the millions in this country who are disabled but who have shown us repeatedly that they are as entitled to sports activities as other South Africans. Perhaps more than any other group, our disabled sportspeople are the true heroes and heroines of our country.

Clearly, we are making progress, not only with regard to the composition of our teams, but also with regard to getting the most distinguished sports competitors from all walks of life, except for a few sporting codes that still give us problems. Among other things, this brings to the fore the need for the government at all levels, the private sector and the sports community to continue to concentrate on the issue of the provision of sports facilities and expertise for the disadvantaged sections of our population.

The creation of sports facilities is indeed a great challenge to all of us. The Deputy Minister also alluded to the fact that the Municipal Infrastructure Grant is now under the Department of Provincial and Local Government. Luckily for us we have MECs present here today.

We all know that there are competing demands at the local level. It is also true that municipalities don’t necessarily concentrate on creating good sports facilities. It is then important for all of us to assist our local authorities, as the Deputy Minister indicated to us, when drawing up the IDPs. This is so that we have at least a slice of the MIG going towards the improvement of sports facilities in our various provinces.

Nevertheless, aside from inconsistent results and the performance of particularly our national teams, we have as public representatives also become accustomed to serious challenges and afflictions in the administration of our sport.

As the ANC, we have a long and proud tradition of promoting and protecting the integrity of our sportspeople in general, and we have, through our efforts, which include heroic struggles, been determined that the playing fields are level.

Through these struggles we have become the envy of progressive forces in the global sporting fraternity. Needless to say, throughout the era of sports isolation, the ANC remained stoic in regard to the sporting dispensation it visualised for our country.

Once more, as a developmental state, we resolved to ensure that the youth are actively involved in shaping their future through sport. As the ANC government we are committed to working with the youth, women, men and disabled people in schools to facilitate sport and to promote our communities out there.

It is against this backdrop that we fail to understand the actions of some of our administrators. As elected representatives, we are often in the first line of fire when there are allegations of corruption, mismanagement, infighting and lack of capacity at all levels. We are asked questions pertaining to these offences.

In his address to the first joint sitting of the third Parliament, the President emphasised the importance of the ability to gain important victories when we unite to pursue common goals. From this it must be clear to everybody that the ultimate victory is one from which the country benefits.

You would all agree with me that in the aftermath of recent results, save for Cassius Baloyi, Roland Schoeman and Ernst van Dyk, our ability to compete in particular team sports has become seriously blunt. And, because of this, a myriad of questions have been raised. Rugby, cricket, netball, soccer, our Davis Cup tennis team, have all been relegated to also-ran status. Moreover, this is denting the image of our country.

From where we are it is not difficult to diagnose these problems. What is glaringly lacking is a common sense of patriotism. What administrators, coaches and players gleefully embrace is the inordinate amount of financial resources put at their disposal. Too many of our administrators and players alike have lost sight of what it means to represent your country, and, particularly, a country such as ours where we are able to draw on our diversity of talent, our status as a young democracy able to compete with the best, our collective success in contributing to nation-building and nonracialism, and ultimately being an ambassador for South Africa.

AS the ANC we have never doubted the abilities of those representing our country in whatever sporting capacity. The ANC-led government over the past 12 years has created an enabling environment both legislatively and resource-wise to ensure that opportunities are expanded to create a better life for all.

We should be the first to acknowledge that government has avoided intervening in every failure on the part of our sportspeople. We have avoided the need to become instructive, but clearly we cannot become mere spectators when the one pillar that could potentially be the bedrock in terms of values, etc, in this the age of hope, starts showing cracks.

On the whole, Sport and Recreation are paying attention to the prescripts of the White Paper and the mandate given to them by the overwhelming majority of our people. Their programmes are on a solid footing, and we must trust that they will fast-track the implementation of outstanding policies and the delivery of infrastructure. Further, we trust that they will continue in their efforts to create a nonracial and equitable sports dispensation.

In conclusion, I would like to make use of this opportunity to commend President Thabo Mbeki and the delegation that visited Britain for putting sport and recreation on the agenda of the seventh session of the United Kingdom-South Africa bilateral two weeks ago. We are delighted by Cabinet’s approval of the 2010 special measures Bill that will deal with nonmonetary matters and which is sponsored by Sport and Recreation SA. This will enable facilitation of the guarantees given to Fifa as part of our hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

I would just like to come back to my hon colleague, Mr Van Heerden, on the question of animal racing. What we are dealing with here today, if the hon member could just read through this Budget Vote, are developmental issues in terms of which we want to build a nation. But the hon member Van Heerden comes and tells us about animal racing in which the richest of the rich come together and exchange business cards. [Laughter.] We don’t have time for that. We have a country to run and people to look after. I thank you very much. The ANC supports this Budget Vote. [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Thank you very much, Chairperson. The Deputy Minister is protesting that you are calling me Ms’’. This makes him wonder where you got my fifth initial, because it is correct also to call meMs’’ since this is one of my names. [Laughter.]

It is very inspiring this afternoon to listen to the members of this House all speaking with one voice in support of the objective which we have been preaching, at least from my side, for the last 42 years now, that sport can play a role in the integration of society, and for that reason one country, one federation.

I am pleased that in 2006 we seem to have all achieved that understanding of what sport can do. We are also very pleased, Chairperson, about the support that we are receiving from our President, both in the international forums, whether it is in the UK or Spain, and indeed within the country itself. I am sure he knows more than many of us which event is taking place where. Sometimes he phones us at night to remind us to congratulate the chess team that has won in Spain and my department had not so much as informed me about that.

The President seems to be very excited about our sporting escapades, and we should all draw hope and inspiration from that. But we are not the only people who seem to take note of the ability of sport and sportspersons in South Africa. A number of federations all over the world continue to choose South Africa as the prime venue for international events. This year, for instance, we will be hosting the world swimming championships in Durban. We will also be hosting the Gymnaestrada World Championships as well as participating in the Women’s World Rugby Cup in Canada in August.

There is a whole plethora of others, including the Touch Rugby World Cup, which will be hosted in Stellenbosch. All this indicates that the world takes us seriously, and has identified South Africa as one of the nations of the world that is not only able to make a contribution on the sportsfield but is in fact able to host mega events to the satisfaction of all participants. It is thanks to you, hon members, that our country and our people are able to receive such respect from the world community.

As a matter of fact, we agree with members and we have been lamenting since we came to Parliament in 1994, that school sport is an orphan, and for that reason we engaged the then Minister of Education Prof Sibusiso Bengu, Danny Jordaan and Greg Fredericks, when they were still members of Parliament, to assist the Minister to get out of this mode of school sport belonging neither to Education nor to Sport. We are pleased that last year we were able to bring about that parenting of school sport. It is, however, true that there is more to be done to translate our intentions into the fruit that must be enjoyed by our children.

It is very inspiring to listen to the provincial representatives and MEC’s here. I was whispering to the Deputy Minister that there is a great difference between the inputs here in this House and the input we had in the National Assembly. It clearly separates the philosophers from the practitioners. [Laughter.] [Applause.]

We are left with no doubt that you understand what is happening on the ground, because we have attended most of the events that we are discussing here today. We have sometimes been part and parcel of planning and on other occasions of funding, but in most cases we were also physically participating in those events. We will be in Port Alfred when the rowing tournament takes place on 16 June 2006. We will be in Durban on 18 June 2006, when there will be that youth function around Satyagraha of Mahatma Gandhi. We know about these things and we are pleased that we have representatives who also fully understand and know about them.

We agree with members that more work needs to be done with respect to fighting doping, but we should also be proud to know that the African Continent only has two accredited doping laboratories. One is in Tunisia and the other is in the Free State, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. It is a very busy laboratory, which has seen us host a conference in Mozambique, together with the government of Mozambique, to redouble our efforts to create national anti-doping structures. We thus agree that a regional anti- doping organisation must be established very quickly for the SADC countries in the same way as we are assisting East Africa to establish their own regional anti-doping organisation.

We agree with members that indigenous games must be supported, because we cannot always be learners of other people’s cultures. We must also be sharers with other people of our own culture. I can assure the hon Van Heerden that this includes the Afrikaner culture. You should have seen at Oudtshoorn last year when they were throwing that jukskei - the old and the young - how excited they were. I have no doubt in my mind that there will be more throwing of the jukskei in Mpumalanga than we had at Oudtshoorn because this is what South Africa is all about. It is about ugqaphu [rope skipping] and hide and seek. [Laughter.]

Somebody said hide and seek, and I am not sure if that is a sport but it might be some kind of recreation. But it doesn’t matter. I watched the Indonesian national games on television and they brought all the things that we have accepted in South African games ourselves such as the top, iceya [touch], ugqaphu [rope skipping] and all those things. We must begin to teach our compatriots how to enjoy those things.

We need money for these things and hon members are the ones who vote for the budgets. That’s why we are passionately trying to persuade you please to support this budget. We don’t mind if you increase it a little bit so that we can attain our goals.

Hon Witbooi raised very important issues, of municipalities rendering public facilities inaccessible to our communities, rendering the fields that are there as expensive, inaccessible amenities and the Municipal Infrastructure Grant not being accessible to our municipalities. We agree with her, but we want to plead with the members as public representatives to assist us in being watchdogs over these issues.

We should be part and parcel of the planning of our ward committees and our municipal IDP’s, so that we raise the consciousness of our councillors. I agree with the view that councillors are thinking about water and roads and all these things. This is very true, but we must also raise their consciousness of the need for facilities and amenities.

Thank you again, hon Witbooi, for the clarity you have given this House with respect to the Green Point Stadium. We agree with the statistics that you have given. We can’t give statistics about KwaZulu-Natal or the King Senzangakhona Stadium. That will come in its own good time, when we have the time to do so. By and large, we thank you for your support and we accept the criticism that was levelled where it was called for. Thank you very much, Chairperson.

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr T S Setona): On behalf of the House, we would particularly like to thank the hon Minister, the Deputy Minister, special delegates and MECs.

Debate concluded.

The Council adjourned at 16:35. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

TABLINGS

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson

 1) Strategic Plan of the 3rd Parliament of the Republic of South
    Africa for 2004-2009 [RP 50-2006].

COMMITTEE REPORTS

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces

CREDA PLEASE INSERT REPORT - Insert T060605a-insert3 PAGES 1150 - 1152