Madam Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, the day before yesterday, on 13 November 2011, a young South African again made this nation proud with his bravura and victory in the Fina Swimming World Cup Series in Tokyo. Chad le Clos won this championship with flying colours, claiming his 23rd gold medal on the circuit. He clocked a time of 1 minute 43 seconds to win the men's 200 m race. Today, Le Clos was named South African Swimmer of the Year for winning a total of 35 medals in the series. We congratulate him.
We would also like to take this opportunity to express our burden of grief and sadness at the untimely death of the former Springbok rugby player, Mr Solly Tyibilika, who was gunned down in New Crossroads on the outskirts of Gugulethu and Nyanga East. Mr Tyibilika made South Africans proud when he was selected to play for the AmaBokoboko in a Mandela Cup match between Australia and South Africa. May his soul rest in peace.
On 9 to 10 October 2008, Sport and Recreation SA, SRSA, the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, Sascoc, and the broader sport and recreation movement met at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in KwaZulu-Natal to pause and take stock of the road traversed since the establishment of the first full-blooded Department of Sport and Recreation in the history of the Republic of South Africa and, at the same time, to make a way forward for the transformation of the sport system in the Republic. This was all done under the theme "From mass mobilisation to excellence - improving the integration and organisation of sport".
At the centre of the debates at the 2008 National Sports Indaba was the issue of transformation. Delegates to the conference recognised the slow pace of and resistance to change in the sporting circles of our country. The conference believed that the journey to full transformation in sport and recreation was still far from over and delegates cited living examples in rugby and cricket that pointed to lingering prejudices. Delegates to the conference reiterated the necessity to transform and reminded players and administrators that transformation was not negotiable but part of our constitutionally mandated government agenda.
Matters relating to the broadening of access to all, the need to bring the building of sport and recreation facilities back into the fold of the Department of Sport and Recreation, and issues relating to the reviving of school sport and the promotion of physical education were highlights of the 2008 Sports Indaba. Four years down the line, here we are again, grappling with the same issues, raised at the 2008 National Sports Indaba.
In November 2010, the President of the Republic, President Jacob Zuma, reshuffled his Cabinet and afforded me the opportunity to lead the Department of Sport and Recreation in South Africa. In doing so, the President expected us to change the content and context of the sport and recreation landscape in South Africa. In fulfilment of this mandate, the Department of Sport and Recreation and the sporting community will be hosting a National Sport and Recreation Indaba from 21 to 22 November 2011 to reconstruct, revitalise and transform the sport and recreation sector under the theme "From policy to practice - not just another indaba".
The birth of the National Sport and Recreation Indaba will be located in the context of our assertion when we outlined the vision of the new Sport and Recreation leadership appointed by the President in 2010. Even when we addressed the joint press conference with Sascoc in March, we reminded all South Africans:
Four years after the 2008 Durban National Sport Indaba and 16 years since the 1994 democratic breakthrough, our country is still overwhelmed by inequalities and uneven development in sport and recreation.
We agreed with Sascoc that we needed to move with speed to ensure that together we embarked on a broad consultative process that would involve the entire nation in a robust national debate on transformation and would culminate in a conceptual and contextual transformation framework for the country.
Our stated intention on this matter was to launch a rolling, interactive and forward-looking process that would build a people-centred developmental discourse that would continue to evolve organically from every nook and cranny of South African society, inspired by the thoughts and enhanced by the opinions of all sport-loving people, both in their organised and voluntary formations. This process would gain its own momentum and culminate in vibrant debate and a solid platform for a national dialogue that would culminate in the national indaba in November. The aforementioned assertion provides SRSA federations and other stakeholders with the basis to outline for the nation the purpose of the National Sport and Recreation Indaba, as follows: retracing the road traversed by the people of South Africa since apartheid; reviewing the instruments, policies, strategies and tactics that have been relied upon over the past 16 years; aligning the Sport and Recreation Road Map's strategic priorities with current and future policies and legislation; fast- tracking a Transformation Charter and delivery mechanism for all sectors and role-players; setting in motion campaigns, projects, strategies and tactics; dealing with the provision of facilities in disadvantaged communities; facilitating collective buy-in from all stakeholders into the National sports plan; streamlining implementation towards common objectives; considering feedback from the provincial indabas and the Sascoc/National Federations Indaba; and elevating public awareness of the national sports plan by means of an effective and targeted media campaign.
It is in this regard that the Ministry of Sports and Recreation has hosted different sector-to-sector consultations, ranging from the national Sport and Recreation Civil Society Consultation Assembly, the sport and business forum, the Sport and Recreation Public Entities Engagement, to the Sport Media and Editors Consultation Forum, in order to afford an opportunity also to take stock of the road traversed in sport and recreation and follow a way forward that will assist the sport and recreation community in reconstructing and revitalising the sport and recreation sector for an active and winning nation, and to contribute to the struggle to improve the lives of all South Africans.
However, we expect that the content of the discussions and engagements in the indaba will firmly remember the words of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-moon, who said:
Sport has become a world language, a common denominator that breaks down all the walls, all the barriers. It is a worldwide industry whose practices can have a widespread impact. Most of all, it is a powerful tool for progress and development.
In responding to the above, delegates will be called upon to equally and honestly respond to the commitments enshrined in the Multilateral International Convention Against Apartheid in Sports, as adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1985, which stated the following:
The expression "apartheid" (and discrimination) shall mean a system of institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over another racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them, such as pursued by South Africa.
"Apartheid in sports" shall mean the application of the policies and practices of such a system in sports activities, whether organised on a professional or amateur basis ... [We are] convinced that the adoption of an International Convention against Apartheid in Sports would result in more effective measures at the international and national levels, with a view to eliminate apartheid and discrimination in sport.
It is almost 15 years since the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic, and our people, through that Constitution, have given the developmental state a political mandate to strategically respond to the above-mentioned UN convention and transform all the institutions of the state and other undemocratic institutions and practices, based on the will of the people. Indeed, there is much to celebrate in the new and democratic South Africa, including reforms in sport and recreation, as instructed by the convention.
However, the strategic point of entry is a distinction between structural reform and social reform, as analysed by John Saul. Structural reform means community development and empowerment. With regard to contextualisation in a sport perspective, it involves the provision of sport facilities, the development of sport skills and the enhancement of sport opportunities among disadvantaged South Africans. This, in essence, requires a critical political context that integrates sports with other national goals and priorities.
In content, this process of the structural transformation of sport and recreation takes cognisance of areas such as education, health, the economy, transport, employment and community development. By contrast, the transformation of sport and recreation means redressing the imbalances of the past and isolated grievances. In the South African context, this refers strategically to the deracialisation of elite privileges in sport and recreation.
However, Dr Douglas Booth, in his book entitled South Africa: Elite Sport is Winning, cautioned us:
Sadly, one finds little evidence of structural reform in South African sport. While some former anti-apartheid activists use sport to empower local communities, the majority view it as a convenient route to self- enrichment or, at best, as a symbol of racial reconciliation. Few care about developing sport in disadvantaged communities.
This was said by Dr Booth in November 1995, a year after the first democratic elections in our country and hardly a year before the formal adoption of the democratic Constitution of the Republic.
We must all be combat-ready to join all South Africans in the battle trenches for a nonracial, nonsexist, democratic, accessible, integrated and united sport and recreation system, today and beyond today. We must do this collectively, inspired by the urgent task to build a collective case for sport and recreation in our national and global discourse and to sharpen our theory, analysis and organisation of sport and recreation in South Africa. Of cardinal importance is that we must do this to chart a common vision, a common implementation plan and common delivery mechanisms across all spheres of government for sport and recreation development and total transformation of our sector.
Our stated and unstated assumptions should be placed here in order to canvas public opinion and develop solutions to and recommendations for the challenges of our age. In this context, there must be no holy cows and we must leave no stone unturned in our quest to transform South Africa for the better.
Let us embark on genuine and constructive debates, fireside chats and conversations in regard to public discourse that will be rigorously interrogated and subjected to public scrutiny. We reiterate that this debate is open to all - peasants and farmers; rural and urban women; workers, teachers and students; fans, taxi drivers, players and coaches; sports administrators and managers; politicians and bureaucrats; and young and old.
Whenever and wherever South Africans meet, as we did with business, public entities, outstanding personalities and sport veterans, sport and recreation must exist and the ideals of a sporting and healthy nation should be our preoccupation and a clarion call. Let us all seize the moment and make meaningful inputs and contributions for a better sport system. Let us make the vision of President Nelson Mandela live with all of us by collectively endorsing that:
Transformation and reconciliation are central to that vision which moved millions of men and women to risk all, including their lives, in the struggle against apartheid and white domination. It is inseparable from the achievement of a nonracial, democratic and united nation affording common citizenship, rights and obligation to each and every person, and respecting the rich diversity of our people. It is that if we are one nation with one destiny, then our first task is the collective eradication of the legacy of the inhuman system of apartheid (in sport and recreation and society in general) as a necessary step towards the reconciliation and reconstruction of our nation.
This was the address given by President Nelson Mandela at the opening of the President's Budget Vote debate on 2 March 1999.
In conclusion, out of the National Sports Indaba of 21 to 22 November, for the first time South Africa will have a national sports plan that should be embraced by all.
Uzoyithola kanjani uhleli ekhoneni? Walala wasala. Asuka amaphepha; asala amabhokisi. [How will you get it if you are not working towards it? You snooze you lose. The action has begun.]
Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Mr Chairman, the DA supports and promotes the idea that action should be taken to give special opportunities to those who currently suffer disadvantage because of past discrimination. We believe that the government's role should be to facilitate and realise those opportunities and not to interfere with or impose a political agenda on South Africa's various sporting codes and its institutions.
We believe that redress in sport should be done through development programmes designed to help the currently disadvantaged and to overcome the legacy of discrimination against them and their forebears. The DA does not believe redress should be done through the imposition of race quotas, because such quotas reinforce the racial ideology of apartheid. They are unjust and, above all, fail to properly correct the imbalances created by apartheid.
The DA believes that every South African, no matter what their circumstances, should have the opportunity to realise their own sporting talent, should they so choose. In addition, the DA believes that sport and the development of new sporting talent should be driven by the pursuit of excellence. This emphasis should define not only our country's athletes but also the institutions designed to produce them.
We also have impediments, however. South Africa's ability to compete properly at international level has been undermined on two fronts. Firstly, sport has become politicised and its administration subjected to sustained interference. Secondly, following on from this, a relentless drive for transformation and an ever-increasing hostility towards the pursuit of excellence has damaged our sporting institutions and resulted in a failure to produce a new and diverse generation of sports professionals able to compete on the world stage.
Adjunkspeaker, ons moet onsself twee vrae stel. Eerstens, waarom moes briljante spelers, soos Kevin Pietersen en Jonathan Trott, in murg en been Suid-Afrikaners, die land verlaat om in Engeland en later vir Engeland krieket te speel? Tweedens, waarom neem dit so lank om 'n opvolger vir Makhaya Ntini te kry, terwyl daar vandag 'n oorvloed van plaasvervangers vir hom moes gewees het, as ons maar net 'n sportontwikkelingsbeleid in plaas van 'n transformasiebeleid gehad het?
Ek weet die Minister tender vir 'n baie groot pos in die ANC by volgende jaar se ANC kongres. [Gelag.] Ek dink hierdie indaba is deel van sy program om sy beeld te bou vir volgende jaar. [Tussenwerpsels.] Hy moet net onthou waar die nasionalisering van myne sy kameraad, Julius Malema, laat beland het. [Tussenwerpsels.] As hy sport wil nasionaliseer, sal hy met meer as net die ANC te doen kry. [Tussenwerpsels.]
Laastens, hoop ek dat hierdie indaba nie net weer 'n verkwisting van tyd en belastingbetalers se geld sal wees nie, maar dat die sportmense van Suid- Afrika daarby baat sal vind. [Applous.]
Hoor, hoor! (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Deputy Speaker, we need to ask ourselves two questions. Firstly, why did brilliant players like Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott, South Africans through and through, have to leave the country to play cricket in England and later for England? Secondly, why is it taking so long to find a successor for Makhaya Ntini, while there should have been a multitude of substitutes by now, if we had only had a sports development policy instead of a transformation policy?
I know the Minister is vying for a high position in the ANC at next year's ANC Congress. [Laughter.] I think this indaba is part of his programme to build his image for next year. [Interjections.] He must just remember the difficulties in which the nationalisation of mines has landed his comrade, Julius Malema. [Interjections.] If he wants to nationalise sport, he will be up against more than just the ANC. [Interjections.]
Lastly, I hope that this indaba will not once again be just a waste of time and taxpayers' money, but that the sportspeople of South Africa will benefit from it. [Applause.]
Hear, Hear!]
Chairperson, the words of former President Nelson Mandela underpin the White Paper for the National Sport and Recreation Plan to be adopted at the indaba this coming weekend:
Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.
Participation is the key to achieving success in sport. This participation must be in schools, modified sport in communities and in recreational youth camps. Furthermore, performance is a key factor in determining sport success. This can be achieved through the identification and development of talented athletes, a sports academy and a sports science system. This can also be achieved by the establishment of clubs and leagues, education and training, quality coaching, volunteers, and addressing the backlogs in sports facilities, which is a major problem.
The new sports plan has policy imperatives that are crucial to its success, including total sport transformation; prioritisation of sporting codes; one national emblem and the same colours for the South African national sporting teams; and a monitoring and evaluation system for the plan. The implementation of the plan must further be underpinned by an effective funding model, a code of ethics and drug-free sport.
Minister, we applaud your efforts in and commitment to bringing this plan to fruition. Cope believes and supports this initiative as being the best model for our sporting success as a nation.
We caution, however, that the National Lotteries Board, which has a key role to play in the funding model, is squandering resources in a criminal manner, as was exposed this weekend. We urge your intervention to ensure that our people are not compromised in the development of sport in this country. [Time expired.]
Hon Chairperson, the IFP welcomes the National Sports Indaba initiative by the Department of Sport and Recreation. It's long overdue and is a both positive and necessary step towards transformation in sports administration and delivery in our country.
Besides our building cohesiveness and goal orientation through the National Sport Plan, we also welcome the fact that national access to sport, irrespective of geographic location, will become one of the plan's main focus points. Our rural and disadvantaged communities must be singled out and be among the first recipients of sporting resources and facilities.
Sport and recreation are very necessary to the overall wellbeing of our citizens and they contribute positively to the lives of all South Africans and the country as a whole. The IFP fully supports the initiative.
Chairperson, 17 years of our young democracy still leaves us short of a sound developmental sports plan. The Minister's predecessors have failed this department.
Of course, Minister Mbalula, your hard work is reflected by sport and the platform created by yourself to discuss and adopt a sports plan. It is a sign that you care passionately about what happens with regard to school sports.
It also speaks volumes regarding your enthusiasm that Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation elected a chairperson only today, having been without one for nine months. Added to this is the cancellation of oversight visits in regard to school sports earlier this year. You have broken the yoke when it comes to mass participation. There is a need for Members of Parliament to do oversight in this regard, as this issue is of importance to you. You are accountable to Parliament. This is indeed a tall order and we cannot engage with you on serious matters simply because you never attend.
Chairperson, the ACDP supports the broad aims and objectives of the National Sport and Recreation Plan. We believe that sport has the power to change attitudes and unify a nation, as we have witnessed during many world events, particularly the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup in our own country. Sport definitely contributes to peace and development, increases social and economic values and enhances healthy and fulfilling lives - as contained in the Minister's statement.
The ACDP strongly supports and encourages the implementation of compulsory physical education in all our schools. Many school children are battling with health issues and problems because they are overweight. The envisaged recreation programmes will help to enhance healthy lifestyles among our children.
The ACDP hopes that the upcoming Sport and Recreation Indaba will not only be inclusive and representative, but also give the nation a clear strategy regarding how the plan will be implemented within clear timelines.
Hon chair, the PAC welcomes the National Sports Indaba as outlined by hon Minister Mbalula.
With the exception of a few sporting codes, like rugby, cricket and swimming, our country is generally punching far below its weight, especially in football. The football administrators in this country play shibobos and tsamayas on themselves. They dribble themselves to failure. Naked greed, power mania, ineptitude and corruption must be rooted out if ever we hope to reclaim our sporting glory.
Chairperson, you cannot advance and build a strong sporting nation on old and outdated policies; therefore policy directors are of paramount importance.
Let us also be reminded that one more child in sport is one more out of court.
The streamlining and implementation of common objectives is essential, bearing in mind that rural and disadvantaged communities have little or practically no support whatsoever in respect of amenities and infrastructure.
Prior to the new dispensation, there was a deliberate move to keep people away from using certain sporting facilities and long leases of up to 99 years with a very low rental were concluded. Minister, we call on you to intervene and address these injustices and we hope that the National Sports Indaba will address these imbalances and inequalities.
I am reminded of the words of the previous MEC for sports and recreation in KwaZulu-Natal, Mr A Rajbansi, when he said that no child should be deprived of his or her talent because of poverty. They must be given the latitude, the right and the opportunity also to win championships.
Hon Chairperson, the organisers of the National Sports Indaba could not have found a more appropriate theme. Azapo also says, "Not just another indaba!" The statement made in October 2008 - that transformation was not negotiable - still holds true today.
Sport is dying and in some cases, in certain township and village schools, it is already dead. There are no facilities to speak of, except in former Model C schools. How will the young ones, growing up in township and village schools, ever have a chance to play for the Proteas or the Springboks?
What has happened to boxing in South Africa, hon Minister? Many of us long for the days of Welcome Ncita, Dingaan Thobela, Baby Jake Matlala, Brian Baronet, Arthur Mayisela, Vuyani Bungu, etc.
Minister, you cannot leave these federations to themselves. If you do, the result will be what we have seen in cricket, where people have paid themselves huge sums of money at the expense of players - money that was supposed to be used for development. When you come in, Minister, you are to be assisting, not interfering. We will await the outcome of the sports indaba.
Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers present, Deputy Ministers, colleagues and people in the gallery, the first issue is that the National Sports Indaba has nothing to do with the ANC conference! Those people cannot vote for the Minister, whether they like it or not, because they are not delegates to the conference. [Interjections.]
The other issue is that in the presence of Minister Stofile hon McGluwa sang his praises. Now that the former Minister is not here, hon McGluwa is saying that the man failed the department. Why didn't he say that in his presence? Let us not wait until people are not here to defend themselves to make remarks.
Let me come to what I have been asked to do. Today marks almost the second last month before we celebrate our centenary as a liberation movement, both in South Africa and on the continent of Africa.
Kulilixa ke ngoko lokuba siqwalasele isivuno esithe sasifumana ekuphuculeni intlalo yoluntu oluNtsundu noluhlelelekileyo apha eMzantsi Afrika. Kananjalo kunyanzelekile ukuba siqwalasele ubume bethu nendima esithe sayidlala kwilizwekazi lase-Afrika. Kufuneka sikhangele ukuba iinjongo zethu nemimiselo yethu ihambe njani na kwaye ingaba isesekhondweni kusini na. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[It is therefore high time that we reflect on our productivity with regard to improving the lives of the African people and those who are also marginalised in South Africa. Furthermore, we must reflect on our situation and on the role we have played on the African continent. We must find out how our objectives and regulations have been implemented and if they are still relevant.]
The governance of sport in the country by the respective federations poses real challenges and is becoming hostile to the key agenda of transformation and development. You cannot speak about development without transformation or transformation without development. We need to be agents of change in sport, recreation and the social transformation of South African society. It is crucial that we confront the issues that hinder us in our quest to get the South African sporting fraternity to focus on what is beneficial to the growth of sport and dealing with the imbalances of the past.
We should understand that the sport setup for the previously disadvantaged was historically structured to serve a specific purpose in our society. They are generally separated in terms of operations, primarily because there was no coherent rationalisation under the past system in South Africa. This is a challenge for the South African Ministry of Sport and Recreation and this Parliament. If this were left unchallenged and were not addressed, it would be clumsy, inaccurate in some respects and inappropriate. Therefore we should constantly assess our progress and never compromise on the issue of transformation and development.
Our sports apparatus is so shocking - not to say pitiful - that we must first think of how to combat its defects, bearing in mind that these defects are rooted in the past, which has not yet been overcome, although it has been overthrown. We have not yet reached the stage where that particular culture has receded into the distant past. I say "culture" deliberately because in these matters you can only regard something as having been achieved when that thing has become part and parcel of our culture, social life and habits, despite those who seem to undermine this process.
As I continue to reflect on this I remind this House that we are not moving at the expected speed in transformation. Hon members will recall that during the 1992 to 1995 national sports unity talks, lengthy resolutions were taken. Two reforms were clearly at the cutting edge of the whole process, and would have given birth to a totally transformed national federation. Instead, the lack of development, transformation, social cohesion and unity has deepened. I therefore call upon those who lead sports to face increasing scrutiny which, I have no doubt, will inevitably result in questions regarding governance and practice.
The transformation of many sports from predominantly voluntary administration organisations anchored in an amateur ethos to professionally managed entities catering for a more sophisticated marketplace has created unique challenges for the governance of sport sponsorship. The above statement gives birth to a possible conceptual linkage between sport sponsorship and corporate governance. Principles such as accountability and transparency are nonexistent. How do you explain the issue of sponsorship commissions through sponsorship negotiations and brokering at the expense of broader development in South African football by the Premier Soccer League wing? How do you explain undisclosed bonuses in cricket? These are the challenges of governance.
As I reflect I arrive at the point where I am saying that there is a lack of integrative thinking and no application of common sense by the relevant stakeholders, particularly the decision makers, regarding issues of broader development when it comes to sponsorship transactions, commissions and bonuses. With the benefit of hindsight, one can see that this may have been ignited by the loophole in the National Sport and Recreation Amendment Act, Act 18 of 2007, with specific reference to the accountability framework or the clause on issues pertaining to sponsorship. It is not clear what significant role in respect of oversight both the Department of Sport and Recreation and Treasury are playing in regard to major sponsorship transactions. We need to look at this issue and I concede that we need to do that with the assistance of those who mistakenly believe they are entitled to millions in commission.
Commissions should not be ingredients of individual wealth. We should rather spend these millions on broader development, with particular reference to the expansion and progress of school sport. As a result, at the ANC Polokwane conference we affirmed that at some point government would have to integrate ubuntu principles into public policies so as to comprehensively correct the distortions and imbalances not only in our heritage, but also in our socioeconomic and industrial relations.
When the ANC did this, we were essentially saying the following: We need to encourage mass participation and ignite school sport. We need to involve women and people with disabilities with a view to promoting equity. All schools must have a minimum offering of extramural activities. Physical education must be offered as a compulsory subject for learners in Grades R to 12.
Izibhambathiso esizithathayo mazibe namazinyo ukwenzela ukuba zilume xa kufuneka. Ixesha looxomoyi noonomoyi abangafuni kutshintsha, hayi, liphelile elo xesha! [We need to intensify the vows we make so that we are able to use them against any transgressions. The time for antitransformation agents has expired.] Dit is klaar. [It is over.]
Uza kuqhawuka ujingi abantwana bedlala ngoku. Kufa ayayo makwedini! [Rules are going to be tougher now. Let us pull up our socks.]
In connection with the above, it gives me pleasure to attest that some of the projected intentions of the Polokwane conference have been meaningfully executed. A case in point is school sport. Two departments, namely Basic Education and Sport and Recreation, and their respective Ministers did indeed institute and approve the planning framework and further developed an action plan on 22 and 23 June 2011. The interdepartmental task team met to consolidate the document and agreed on the implementation plan. As we speak today, multiple aspects have been covered, including school sport - but not Julius Malema. He is not a member. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Debate concluded.