Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, MECs, and hon members, our new stadiums are a source of pride. Will they become a source of grief tomorrow? That is the R1 billion question.
I therefore want to ask whether the department has a properly envisioned strategy plan to keep the stadiums viable for the future. Two months ago, speaking in London, Mr Danny Jordaan said:
We need to make the stadiums viable. The central issue is whether rugby will move to the new stadiums. I think it will. Their stadiums were built in the 1950s.
Is this wishful thinking or a done deal? What if rugby does not move to the new stadiums; what will happen then? Is there a Plan B and a Plan C? A particular concern to all of us is Mbombela Stadium with a capacity of 64 000 seats. How will this stadium be kept viable after the Fifa Soccer World Cup?
I now come to the question of ownership of Bafana Bafana rights. According to the media, things are hidden behind opaque shareholding structures comprising shelf companies, complicated indirect stakes and confidential licensing agreements. The pointed question to the Minister is whether Mr Smidt had indeed acquired a 49,9% stake in Slam Holdings, which controls the Bafana Bafana trademark, through a series of secretive deals. We would also like to know whether Smidt and Kaizer and Bobby Motaung are going to rake in millions out of the secret deals.
In terms of school sport, many youngsters in our country are already caught up in the football fever. Is the Department of Sport and Recreation co- operating with the Department of Basic Education to ensure that all schools have coaching manuals and DVDs to encourage learners not only to take up sport but to master the basics early in life?
The ideal, however, is to appoint coaches. In the absence of coaches, printed and audiovisual coaching materials should be available to schools so that all educators can play a role in teaching learners the essentials.
This brings me to the second point, which concerns sports grounds. Many schools do not have a surface suitable for playing sport. In South Africa, with an increasing number of children becoming obese, it is vitally important for sport to be taken up by children everywhere in the country. It is far better to invest in healthy children than in health per se.
We all know that the coming of the Fifa Soccer World Cup concentrates our minds on football. What is now going to happen after the games are played and the event moves on? How is the interest in sport going to be kept red hot? Is the government viewing the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup as an event or a process? If it is viewing it as a process, how will this process unfold?
Sport science and coaching are pivotal to our country's future. Whilst there are many overseas-trained coaches willing to conduct clinics, we do not have any suitable venues. Talented young people will therefore not be able to develop their potential. There is much that needs to be done. Now that the Fifa Soccer World Cup will soon be behind us, let us concentrate on stepping back and filling in the gaps. I thank you.