Chair, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon MECs and hon members, irrespective of race, culture, religious beliefs and language, all of us know that sport has the potential to unite and heal our nation.
In his state of the nation address, President Jacob Zuma said:
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.
Agb Voorsitter, ek wil net hierby aansluit. Die Adjunkminister het nou ges dit l baie na aan sy hart. Ek wil hom uitdaag. Ek wil hom Noord-Kaap toe stuur. Ek wil hom vra om toe te sien dat die skole in Upington, die Kalahari en Mier ordentlike sportgeriewe kry, sodat ons kinders kan vorder, minder misdaad kan pleeg en sodat hulle iewers kan kom.
Dit help nie iets klink goed in teorie, maar op die grondvlak bereik dit nooit die mense nie. Ek wil hom en die Minister ook uitdaag om te sorg dat Safa se Vodacom League minder "corrupt" is, sodat die mense wat sport beoefen darem rens kan kom. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Hon Chair, I just want to add to this. The Deputy Minister has just said that the matter is near to his heart. I would like to challenge him. I want to send him to the Northern Cape. I would like to ask him to see to it that the schools in Upington, the Kalahari and Mier get decent sporting facilities, so that our children can progress, commit less crime, and so that they can get ahead.
It does not help that in theory something sounds good, but then it never reaches the people at grass-roots level. I would like to challenge him and the Minister to see to it that Safa's Vodacom League is less corrupt so that people who practise sport can actually get ahead.]
During the National Primary Schools Athletics Championships in March this year, the North West under-11 and under-13 teams were lily white - pure white. How can that be possible? That shows that the transformation we pay lip service to still has a long way to go.
This is a disgrace for school sport after 15 years of freedom, which people have paid for with their lives, and our government must take responsibility for this and take action on this.
More emphasis must be placed on transformation development and the building of facilities for poorer communities, as I have said previously.
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the organisers of the Confederations Cup on a job well done.
Something else that we really must take very seriously is that ...
... die Khoisan-tale moet ernstig aandag begin kry, sodat ons mense ... As ons praat van Suid-Afrikaners, as ons praat van ... [... the Khoisan languages require urgent attention, in order for our people ... If we talk about South Africans, if we talk about ...]
... Africans, we must include the Khoisan people, not exclude them. There is a language that we need to learn. They are also valuable, like each and every one of us sitting here today.
Die biblioteke: Ek hoop die Minister is ernstig as sy s die biblioteke gaan reg wees - nie gemeenskapsbiblioteke met Huisgenoot nie, maar gemeenskapsbiblioteke wat ons kinders se verstand kan laat oopskiet, sodat hulle lief kan word vir lees en kan groei. Baie dankie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[The libraries: I hope that the Minister is serious when she says that the libraries will be ready - not community libraries that only have Huisgenoot, but community libraries that can stimulate our children's minds, in order for them to become fond of reading and to develop. Thank you.]