Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, guests in the gallery and all the sports officials, I am so humbled to be given this chance, as a number 4 netball player ... [Applause.] ... and as an athlete who participated in the 21 km marathon at Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga, where I received a gold medal. [Applause.]
May I start by congratulating the hon Minister and his Deputy on their redeployment to the Sport and Recreation portfolio. In the 53rd National Conference of the ANC, it restated its conviction that sport plays a pivotal role in developing and promoting social cohesion, shaping the minds of the children in schools, mobilising people around one vision and building patriotism. We witnessed this during the 2010 Fifa World Cup here in South Africa.
The ANC manifesto emphasises the need to improve the quality of our education and training. The key commitments laid out for the next five years are making early childhood development a priority, eradicating illiteracy, improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools and building capacity in higher education. The above matters are well captured in the Annual Performance Plan, APP, of the Department of Sport and Recreation, informed by the National Development Plan, NDP, and expressed in the National Sport and Recreation Plan, NSRP. The department, in the coming five years, seeks to achieve the goal of an active nation, a winning nation, creating an enabling environment, transversal issues and sports as a tool, amongst others.
We have to inculcate the culture of developing a child as a whole. The intellectual capacity of a child depends on physical ability. Sport and recreation is an appropriate tool to address this. Hence, there is a saying: A child in sport is a child out of court. [Applause.]
We know that the issues under discussion are enshrined in the National Sport and Recreation Plan under the component Active Nation. However, a lot needs to be done to find the effective implementation of the plan. Having regular local, district and national competitions is not enough. The full implementation would ensure that every child in our community has access to sport and recreation through programmes that cater for children after school. These programmes should be part of community initiatives.
Sihlalo, emalunga lahleti ngesandleni sesancele etama ngawo onkhe emandla awo kutsi asehlukanise ngekwemibala yetfu ngambili kwanga-1994. [Kuhlaba Lulwimi.] Besuka lapho behlukanisa tindzawo lesasihlala kuto batetsa emabito, batibita ngekutsi ngusemakhaya nome emaphandleni lapho kuhlala khona bantfu labamnyama. Betsa emabito emadolobha batsi ngusemadolobheni lapho khona kuhleti bona bodvwa. [Tandla.]
Noko, ngahulumende wentsandvo yelinyenti loholwa nguKhongolose, ANC, kwatfolakala kutsi usibitela ekuhlanganeni kutsi sibe munye. Nanyalo ngiyanetsembisa kutsi ngetemidlalo, sitawuhlangana sibe munye. [Tandla.] (Translation of Siswati paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, the hon members who are seated on the left side tried by all means to discriminate against us according to our skin colour before 1994.[Interjections.] They then demarcated our residential areas and named them rural or countryside where blacks are residing. They then named towns as urban areas where they stayed alone. [Applause.]
However, the ANC-led democratic government called us all into unity. Even now, I promise you that sports are going to unite us as one. [Applause.]]
We acknowledge the fact that the funds will not be adequate to address all the issues. However, we are guided once more by our ANC manifesto, where it says, and I quote:
We will strengthen co-ordination between departments responsible for early childhood development, nonprofit organisations and the private sector.
The ANC manifesto empowers us to intensify our fight to reduce maternal and child mortality and promote women's health. In the next five years, the ANC- led government is expected to intensify measures to reduce unwanted pregnancies, with a special focus on teenage pregnancy. This will encourage child survival, improve the lives of young women and markedly reduce maternal mortality. This will be done through education, information and the launch of a massive contraceptive and family planning programme through loveLife, since they are our stakeholders. [Applause.]
Recreation hubs are an effective tool to address the idle minds of the youth after school. However, they are not as effective as they should be. Monitoring of funding allocated to recreation hubs should be implemented in support of Budget Vote No 20 for the programmes of sport and recreation to be implemented.
We are directed by the ANC manifesto and the NDP to ensure nation-building and social cohesion, collective identity and national pride as South Africans. We are directed by the fact that we have the capacity to act in social solidarity with one another and advance the value of our constitutional democracy.
A nation united in diversity and a common purpose will move our country forward. It further empowers us to unite the country through promoting deeds of social solidarity reflected in many ways in the actions of our people as individuals, communities and organisations; and strengthening participatory democracy in the workplace, schools, hospitals, clinics and in our communities.
Tsine-ke njengelikomidi letemidlalo sijabule kakhulu ngesikhatsi Indvuna Yelitiko Letemidlalo Nekukhibika ikhuluma njengoba seyicale nekubita emakhosi etemdzabu nje, kutsi nawo atewuhlanganyela natsi kutemidlalo. Phela natsi sinemidlalo yemvelo leminyenti: Ingendvo - kukhenca, incatfu, intjuba, kanye nabomlabalaba betandla netinyawo. Kantsi ikhona naleminye lengingakayibali, njengobe nabo labamhlophe banayo leyo midlalo njengabo- dristokis and yakscale.
Ngako-ke njengemalunga aKhongolose siyalesekela leLiphakelomali lelingunombolo-20. Asambeni-ke siyekwenta imincitiswano le emakhaya njengobe nami ngisuka eMpumalanga nje esigodzini saseNkomazi lapho kwentiwa khona bo-selathi, sibe nemincintiswano. Futsi nje sinemncintiswano losematseni njenganyalo, emakhosi endzabuko anatsi njengenkhosi Mlambo yasesigodzini saseNkomazi kulomncintiswano lobitwa ngekutsi Ngumncintiswano Wetihlabani Tetihlabani TaseNkomazi.
Ngako-ke sitawucela nje kubomasipala njengobe sati kutsi sibambisene nabo kutemidlalo, nabo banelibutfo labo lapha kubomasipala babambisane nemakhosi endzabuko batewungenela lomncintiswano. (Translations of Siswati paragraphs follows.)
[We are very happy as the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation when the Minister of the Department of Sports and Recreation speaks, as he has started to call upon traditional leaders, that they should come and participate in sports together with us. We too have many indigenous games such as: ingendvo, rope-skipping, intjuba, as well as hand and foot games and umlabalaba. There are other games that I have not mentioned, because even the whites do have these games such as driestokkies and jukskei.
As ANC members we support Budget Vote No 20. Let us go and run competitions in the rural areas, as I am also from the Nkomazi district in Mpumalanga, where Selati sugar is produced, and have competitions. We are currently running a well-known competition called Umncintiswano Wetihlabani Tetihlabani TaseNkomazi, and traditional leaders are supporting us, such as, for instance, Chief Mlambo of the Nkomazi region.
We would therefore request municipalities to co-operate with us in sports, together with their teams, and to join hands with traditional leaders and participate in this competition.]
The hon members of the opposition are too lazy to read. It is our firm belief that they did not read the Department of Sport and Recreation's budget and strategic plans. [Interjections.]
Out of R1,73 billion, the department spent only R1,72 billion. Only R465 000 will be spent on paying outstanding commitments. Is that underspending or effective spending? If you know your arithmetic, you will understand the answer, without waiting for the ANC to give you the answer. [Applause.] I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]