Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr President, Mr Deputy President, colleagues and friends, at the unveiling of the 2010 Fifa World Cup emblem in Berlin, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, said the following:
As the pinnacle of the only truly global game, played in every country by every race and religion, it is one of the few phenomena as universal as the UN.
... [T]he World Cup is an event in which everybody knows where their team stands, and what it did to get there.
Everybody loves talking about what their team did right, and what it could have done differently. Annan further said:
I wish we had more of that sort of competition in the family of nations. Countries vying for the best standing in the table of respect for human rights, and trying to outdo one another ... States parading their performance for all the world to see. Governments being held accountable for what actions led them to that result. ... citizens consumed by the topic of how their country could do better ...
With that kind of public scrutiny, good governance would not be an option; it would be a necessity. And with that sense of public ownership, countries would better ensure that their own resources are used in a way that benefits their own daughters and sons. That was what Kofi Annan said. So let us take what we have learnt from hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup and unveil a future of hope for our nation - a future where our actions will echo what is right and what is good; a future South Africa where we deliver in accordance with deadlines, and where we deliver services to benefit all of our sons and daughters.
Let us stand united to ensure that we can speak out about what our government did right, and what it could have done differently, without fear of intimidation and harassment. Let us stand together and hold government accountable for its actions.
South African citizens, engage with how South Africa could do better. We must begin to demand that good governance becomes a necessity, not an option. We must take control of the future of our beautiful country - of your future as South Africans - and demand that our resources be used for the betterment of all people, and not for the benefit of an elite minority with the right political connections.
Speaker, ? ander les wat ons geleer het, is die feit dat as ons eerbaar optree, ons die respek en agting van die wreld afdwing. So, byvoorbeeld, het ons, as deel van die ooreenkoms, wetgewing deurgevoer wat as nadelig vir ons eie sakegemeenskap geag mag word. By nabetragting weet ons almal altyd beter, en daarom is ek doodseker dat ons ongemaklik gevoel het met die totale houvas wat Fifa het oor die gasheerland wat die Sokkerwreldbekertoernooi aanbied. Ons moet onsself afvra waarom dit vir Korea goedkoper was om, nadat hulle die Sokkerwreldbekertoernooi aangebied het, hul stadiums te sloop eerder as om dit te onderhou. Dit verbaas my dus glad nie dat Nederland en Belgi nou in opstand kom teen hierdie versmorende neiging van Fifa nie. Op ? manier sal die afkeer wat ons vir di soort optrede het onder die aandag van Fifa gebring moet word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Speaker, another lesson that we have learnt is the fact that when we act honestly, we command the respect of the world and are held in high esteem. For example, as part of the agreement we implemented legislation that may be regarded as detrimental to our own business community. We always know better in retrospect, and therefore I am quite sure that we felt uncomfortable with the total hold that Fifa has had on the country hosting the Soccer World Cup. We have to ask ourselves the question of why it was cheaper for Korea to demolish their stadiums, after they had hosted the World Cup, instead of maintaining them. Therefore, it does not surprise me at all that the Netherlands and Belgium are now protesting against this stifling tendency of Fifa. In some way our dissatisfaction with this kind of action should be brought to Fifa's attention.]
During the event, we showed pride as a nation united in diversity, and this yielded a successful World Cup. South Africa, we have to begin respecting our diversity and, in doing so, so much more will be achieved.
We have learnt numerous lessons during the 2010 Fifa World Cup. But, above all, we have learnt that development, peace and human rights, and promoting and building a true democracy and an open society are the core aspect of building a great and prosperous nation.
I have penned a poem titled South Africa, our Land. This time around I didn't get the assistance of Mr James Selfe, so I don't owe him any royalties! The poem goes like this:
Oh, South Africa and Africa, our beautiful lands, your fragile future we hold in our fallible hands. The football World Cup for us a table has laid to show to the world of what stuff we are made. The challenge we accept - we dare not fail; otherwise everything will have been to no avail.
The World Cup showed us what could be done, if we act in harmony and as one. As leaders we have to show the way if on course to prosperity we want to stay. If we do the right things and act with sense, this country is destined for excellence.
Thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Madam Deputy Speaker, today we say thank you to those people in South Africa who dreamt that South Africa could host the Soccer World Cup. Robert Goddard, father of the American space programme, said, "Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it."
Yesterday, with a view to today's debate, I went through newspaper clippings of the past couple of months. It is notable that, prior to the start of the tournament, the majority of writers abroad and in South Africa were pessimistic and negative about South Africa's capability of hosting the tournament successfully. After the tournament, the majority of writers were positive about the success of the tournament. The pessimists were proven wrong.
Sir, how do you recognise a pessimist? They say if a pessimist smells flowers, he does not look, where the closest garden is; he looks, where the closest funeral is!
Up to 500 million television viewers watched the final game. There weren't any power outages, as some had predicted there would be. The large terrorist attack that had been predicted thankfully did not take place, and the majority of the security and other arrangements ran smoothly. The Gautrain operated perfectly, and road traffic in the majority of our cities was faster and better after the road infrastructure had been upgraded. If you have flown recently, you will have been impressed with how attractive and modern our airports now appear to be.
As to the precise costs and the advantages and disadvantages for South Africa, there will be raging debates for a long time to come. According to government, R33 billion was spent on transport infrastructure, telecommunications and stadiums.
The question today is: What have we learnt from this success? Why can we not repeat the success of the soccer tournament with the solving of all the other problems - the building of houses, the repair of potholes, and the combating of crime? Crime declined during the hosting of the tournament, and now murder, robberies and farm attacks are suddenly back. What was the recipe for this success?
Firstly, everybody worked together enthusiastically. There were no negative spoilers. The closest we came to that was the ANC Youth League's criticism of the Bafana Bafana captain, their comments on farmers, and the events surrounding Eugene Terre'Blanche's murder - which definitely frightened foreign spectators away. But, sir, all South Africans approached their tasks in a positive manner.
Secondly, we utilised the best expertise that South Africa possesses to complete the stadiums on time and to improve the infrastructure. Thirdly, politics was made subservient to the accomplishment of specific objectives and, fourthly, there were specific deadlines. The result was a successful tournament and a feel-good atmosphere among all South Africans, with hope for the future.
With the rapid increase in crime after the tournament, as well as the rising ANC populism at the moment - according to their September conference - we are busy losing it again. For the sake of our children and the future, we cannot lose it! Former American president L B Johnson said: "Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose." I thank you.