Chairperson, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers and hon members, having presented our budget speech yesterday to the National Assembly, much is obviously fresh in our minds. I fully support that we focus on the issue of sport in the context of education because we all know its value, as well as the symbiotic relationship which exists between education and sport. It is therefore also important that we reflect on the partnership with the Department of Basic Education in delivering school sport.
Now, under the leadership of Minister Stofile, we have a predictable calendar for schools sport for this year, 2009. That is an enormous step forward because schools are now better able to plan for their schools sport and extracurricular sporting activities. As we try to cater for sporting activities of up to 12 million learners of this country, we must seriously reflect on whether our budget of R22 million nationally for competitive sport is sufficient.
Last year we were able to support about 7 900 learners to participate in national championships with a total budget of R27 million. The fact is we face a reduction budget while we should be expanding our programmes to get more than 1% of schools involved in sports activities.
If we are ready to have a major and long-lasting impact on life-long physical activity, we have to be able to get more of our learners involved in sport. Our School Sport Mass Participation Programme supports 3 200 quintile 1 schools, and as a result the provinces which receive the conditional grant have to continue to support the same school each year.
Again, this number of schools is not much more than 10% of the total number of schools in our system. And, even though many schools are able to cater adequately for both physical education and co-operative sport, this indicates clearly that we have much work left to do.
Within the conditional grant for this year, we have allocated R108 million which goes mainly, but not exclusively, to the School Sport Mass Participation Programme. In fact, in real rand terms this is the equivalent of R9,00 per learner per annum. Yet we know that the benefits of physical educational and school sport are many: long-term health benefits, stronger and more secure communities, closer family units, breaking down social and cultural barriers, teaching people about respect for others and property and giving people a sense of purpose - and the list is endless.
Research in the United Kingdom, since 2002, showed that specialist sports schools and schools with physical education and a sport focus have demonstrated improved grades and reported a reduction in truancy.
A report on sports participation trends in South Africa, released in 2008 by Body Mass Index, BMI, Sponsortrack, as part of the series published annually since 1986, tells a story of juniors in the 13 to 18-year-old category in terms of sports participation. It is interesting that the total number of 13 to 18-year-old sports participants exceeded 8,1 million in 2007. This number includes those who participate in more than one sport.
The top five sports codes on the list account for 48% of all participants, while the first 10 account for 67% of all junior participants. The overall junior sports participants profile is 61% blacks, 90% whites, 14% coloured and 6% Asian. That's according to the statistics of the BMI report.
We clearly have much work to do, particularly if we are to meet our obligations in terms of the International Charter of Physical Education and Sport of 1978 which states:
Every human being has a fundamental right of access to physical education and sport, which are essential for the full development of his or her personality. The freedom to develop physical, intellectual and moral powers through physical education and sport must be guaranteed both within the educational system and in other aspects of social life.
This is, indeed, of concern because many of our schools do not have adequate facilities for physical education and sport. Learners are playing on uneven ground and, in some instances, walking long distances to other facilities or trying to make use of municipal facilities which are often locked. Equipment, where it exists, is often locked up and not used for the purpose it was intended for.
The biggest challenge we have to face is the need to train educators in physical education in order to be able to unleash the talent that exists amongst our learners. To the MEC in the Western Cape I want to say we have already started with the process of training educators in administration, event co-ordination and coaching at the basic level, but this is quite different from physical education.
On a positive note, we have worked closely with the Department of Basic Education, the 2010 Fifa World Cup Organising Committee and the SA Broadcasting Corporation to run a successful South African Schools Football World Cup. This has captured the imagination of over 7 000 schools which registered to participate from all corners of South Africa. Boys and girls in the under-14 and under-18 age groups battled it out on soccer fields of various standards to make it to the finals, which were held in May 2009, in Johannesburg.
In line with the lessons learned from that, we are now sending out the challenge to the provinces in both education and sport and recreation to align this programme with the SA Football Association, Safa, and Fifa age groups of under-13, -15 and -17 so that it can serve as a feeder system to Safa in terms of talent identification and development.
We, as government, have to support the federations, and this is exactly what we intend to do. We also expect many more schools to register, not only because the project is a good one, but also because of the attraction generated by South Africa hosting a very successful Confederations Cup. "Sport is a powerful nation-building tool", said President Zuma, this year, in his state of the nation address. It is therefore incumbent on us to deliver school sports as one of the important parts of our armour in building a powerful sports nation called South Africa.
On this team of youth, we also had the privilege of hosting the Supreme Council of Sport in Africa Zone 6 Youth Games in Potchefstroom, Tlokwe, in December 2007. We trained 600 young people as volunteers and 700 children of the North West province were trained for magnificent gymnastic displays at both the opening and closing ceremonies. Local infrastructure, particularly sports facilities, were upgraded through a much appreciated grant from the National Lottery Distribution Fund, leaving a legacy that we are proud of, a legacy I hope they will treasure.
I would like to thank my colleagues from the North West province and the town of Potchefstroom for their invaluable support in raising the bar in the level of organisation of these games. Our young people made us proud by scooping 56 gold, 40 silver and 14 bronze medals. I want to report that we have finally implemented the pilot project on Sport for Peace and Development. Minister Stofile has said to me, more than once, that it's good for us to contribute to Sport for Peace and Development in other countries, but we also need to refine that concept here at home.
Our department has now taken this message on board and is working very closely with the Department of Police on what we call "sport for safety". We have to acknowledge the pioneering work done by our partners from the United Kingdom - we are talking about the British High Commission, British Airways, the Metropolitan Police, specifically the Southwark Police Station in London, and the Charlton Athletic Football Club. They have partnered with Ajax Cape Town and the South African police stations in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain, Bidvest Wits in Hillbrow and Alexandra, and recently AmaZulu in kwaMashu.
With the focus on schools, it's important that we work with both the South African Police and the Department of Basic Education in close co-operation to ensure that we collectively meet our government's commitment to reduce crime, particularly among the youth. This is a national imperative and we are committed to working in this collaborative way to ensure progress so that we can, in the near future, roll it out with additional partners, our provincial colleagues, the national provincial sports councils and the local government.
The President, in his state of the nation address, stated that -
It is clear that we need to invest on a large scale in sports development. We will speed up the revival of school sport and ensure that it forms part of the school curriculum. In addition, we will ensure that the provision of sports facilities in poorer communities receives priority.
As this is an issue very close to my heart and that of Minister Stofile, we once again have to raise the issue of basic sports facilities in our communities, particularly in our rural areas. That will enforce our commitment to rural development. I thank you. My time has expired. What a pity! [Applause.]