Hon Chairperson, thank you very much. I must also say a word of appreciation to the logistics managers. It certainly is much better talking from here.
Hon Chairperson, esteemed members, and ladies and gentlemen who have joined us in the gallery, led by Commissioner Andr Pruis, an honorary member of the Department of Sport and Recreation, at least until the end of 2010, Shakespeare coined a saying, which I can't remember now, but I studied it about 40 years ago, that "There is a tide in the affairs of man ...". I would say there is a tide in the affairs of any nation which, when taken at an ebb, will lead to fortunes, and omitted, invariably, leads us to misfortune. I think South Africa is experiencing its own tide at the moment. Watching all the activities starting from cricket, the Indian Premier League, IPL, coming right to the Confederations Cup, clearly we are riding the crest of our own tide.
I spoke to Commissioner Pruis about this when we were dumped with the hosting of the IPL, to check if this was not onerous on the responsibilities of our police, and he said, "No, Minister. This is a challenge we welcome because it gives us the opportunity to sharpen our teeth."
One day we will be able to find time to talk seriously about the value of sport in any country and how, in terms of our Constitution, it contributes to the re-establishment of human dignity, the establishment of a society based on equality and human rights, and how sport has contributed to the struggle for and attainment of a nonracial and nonsexist South Africa. That day will also have an evaluation of where we are, not in 15 minutes, but in many hours.
In this way we would have levelled the proverbial playing field, and everybody would be able to understand what needs to be done so that all of us can be worthy and informed leaders of our communities with absolute clarity on what is to be done.
Sport is a therapy, a leadership workshop, as well as a disciplinarian. Nowadays, sport is also a big contributor to the economy of individuals and that of a particular country. Within this context, we can, without any fear of contradiction, declare that South African sport is well and alive. It is not exactly what it should be perhaps, but it is very much alive, nonetheless.
One only needs to look at the number of mega-tournaments we have participated in recently and the progress that our teams have made. This was in major events like the Confederations Cup which came to an end this past Sunday; the Super 14 Rugby competitions and finals that were held at Loftus Versfeld; the Indian Premier League; the Netball Tri-Nations; and the world championships in a whole range of other federations like freshwater angling, swimming and other codes that are hardly ever noticed.
All of these have made a positive contribution towards changing our society and uniting our people. We hope that as we hold our breath for the announcement of the winning bids for the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup, South Africa will emerge victorious. I know that the technical committee has recommended Japan and London. That is okay - that is what happened with the 2006 World Cup also. They recommended Germany and other countries, but in the end it was the board that took the decision. In the same way, the International Rugby Board, on 27 July 2009, will take the final decision.
We are positive because of the quality of our bid, the history of our country and the ability displayed recently, that sanity will prevail. Of course, we beat the Lions and we will beat them again on Saturday. I hope that that will not count negatively in the decision of where the World Cup should be held in 2014. This is also what sport teaches us. It teaches us to be magnanimous in defeat and not just jubilant in victory.
Our support to bid as government is informed by our belief in our teams and our people. It is also based on the need for development in sport, which can only come about through exposure to other competitors from other parts of the world. When we win one of the bids, we should do so as a united country. It was very exciting to see, this year, the evolution of that kind of spirit when all our federations and national players marched together. It did not matter which one was taking the field, the others would be there to give moral support.
In the Netball Tri-Nations, the Springbok players and the national men's hockey squad were there to cheer on our teams, and the same happened during the Confederations Cup.
The legacies brought about by these championships go a very long way towards bettering the lives of our people and for this to continue, we must, as a nation, also continue to give our time, our expertise and, where possible, other resources to ensure that our country remains a respectable global player.
The hosting of major sporting events brings economic activity and employment opportunities into our country. The significance of the economic and social success of smaller-scale sports events should not be discounted because most of these usually take place in smaller towns and not in major cities; their contribution is nevertheless felt.
Chairperson, you would have experienced this when we went to Lady Frere, in the bundu, in the middle of nowhere. The benefit of that visit for the bed and breakfasts and caterers is something they would never have smelt during 2008.
Increasingly, sport events have also become part of a broader strategy aimed at raising the profile of a city or a country. The more we succeed, the more we are judged, not only in terms of our profit, but also in terms of our integrity.
South Africa has demonstrated the capacity to do this, but it is the city of eThekwini, Durban, which seems to be the leader in understanding this thing. They are very aggressive, positively aggressive, in lobbying to be the host of a number of mega-events and mega-activities. We encourage this; we support them, precisely because we understand what they are doing for themselves and for the country.
I want to talk about the pet subject that we've put on the table since 2004 for this country to do something about - school sport. In 2008 we promised South Africa a co-ordinated national scheme for sport activities at school, because everybody was saying we are unable to have coherent development; we need a plan. We sat down with the Deputy Director-General of Education, Ms Gugu Ndebele, and our officials to achieve what we call predictability and consistency.
That schedule was produced and implemented from the beginning of 2009. We delivered to South Africa what we had asked of ourselves; what we too had thought was very important and that was to improve the participation of our children in sport.
The success of the School Sport Mass Participation Programme funded through the Division of Revenue Act, the Dora grant, has increased participation in sport as well as the development of sport champions. Many learners from schools in the programme are now representing their provinces in the Schools National Championships. This now calls for all stakeholders in sport to work together to intensify the development of sport at local delivery points.
In this respect, Chairperson, allow me to make a special call to the North West and Gauteng provinces. Our children must be attended to and assisted with participating in school sport. This is important as it also contributes to the bonding of children with their families and the bonding of families with society, thereby developing the kind of social cohesion that the President continues to talk about.
To make school sport work, we are intensifying our processes of monitoring, evaluation and supporting the delivery of sport at the local level. The role of federations in providing adequate coaching, technical training and support in developing school sport is also a very important factor. We have identified it as a key driver.
Different countries of the world have organised sport around code-specific associations which then form a national umbrella structure to co-ordinate sport at school. Africa is no exception in this respect; neither is Zone 6 nor the SADC, which South Africa belongs to.
Unfortunately, even though we are the founder members of the Confederation of Southern Africa Schools Sports Association, Cosasa, of the SADC, we are nevertheless not members at all because South Africa has not done its homework very well. I don't want to go into the history of school sport during the 60s, 70s and 80s, save to say, when we formed the United School Sport Association of SA, Ussasa, as an anti-apartheid organisation, we were trying to mobilise school sport which was already falling apart. But since 2004, we thought it was not necessary to have Ussasa anymore, but rather have an integrated, nonracial school sport organisation which will not only focus on the organisation of tournaments, but on the building of school sport, as we used to understand it.
We are aware that the Department of Education has now given two days which can be used for this: Wednesday and Friday. Teachers have leeway in terms of the timetable of their departments to use those days for the development of school sport. The challenge here is to defeat the temptation of individualism. Our departments must begin to accept the fact that they are part of society, which is the actual owner of what school sport should do.
The President says, "Vorentoe!"[Forward!] And we should never think, "Agtertoe!"[Backwards!]. But to get "vorentoe" [forward], we must be properly organised.
We think there must be an organised federation of school sport for all South African children, which will then affiliate to its international counterparts. We do not support fragmented attempts by different people, be it in the Western Cape, Limpopo or elsewhere. We want integrated national support which binds us as one nation. To this end, starting from the Ministers and members of the executive council, Minmec, which will be hosted by KwaZulu-Natal, we shall be embarking on the programme of mobilising those teachers, learners and veterans of sport towards the re- establishment of an umbrella body for our sport.
South Africa continues to lead at the political level, but what many people do not understand is that we continue to lead at a sporting level in the international arena as well. In November last year we hosted Unesco's African Regional Anti-Doping Conference, which was representative of the 53 sport Ministers from our continent. We also hosted the 40th Session of the Executive Committee of the Supreme Council for Sport in April 2008, as well as the meeting of Zone 6, which was a meeting of the SADC Ministers of sport to discuss how to increase our tally during the 2012 Olympics in London.
In December we also hosted the youth of the SADC countries. They are all excited about this and they are all pleading: "Parents, brothers and sisters, help us go where you have never gone before." We need all members to be part of this initiative. Thank you. [Applause.]