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.]