Programme Director;
Deputy Minister: SRSA, Mr G. Oostuizen;
The Queen Mother of the Bafokeng Royal Family and the Patron of Banyana Banyana, Mmemolo Dr. Semane Molotlegi;
Director-General, Mr A Moemie;
Leadership of SASCOC;
Leadership of both Banyana Banyana and our women’s’ Hockey team, the Smoothies;
Presidents and CEO’s of all the Federations present here;
Sports men and women who are here with us this afternoon;
Parents and family members of all our athletes;
Fans and Supporters of our national teams;
Media Houses in our midst;
Friends and Compatriots; I greet you all!!
Firstly, I would like to thank the staff of the Department of Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) for allowing me to address you in this historic event in the Republic of South Africa (RSA).
At the same time I would like to thank the South African Women’s Football Team and the Women’s Hockey Side to come here this evening to grace this occasion and give me the opportunity to deliver this message to them.
I would also like to salute all our athletes for putting South Africa high in the world sport and recreation map; in honour of our fallen and living sport and recreation martyrs; especially to honour and sustain the memory of the truly outstanding South African personalities who against all odds made us proud.
I was privileged to address a meeting on the 21 September 2011, where in this meeting I have raised the following:
“Fellow South Africans, this gathering marks an important phase and milestone in our efforts to ensure that our athletes and sports persons in general are motivated to strive for excellence. It marks the beginning of a continuous journey of recognising efforts and sacrifice of all our sport loving youth in their struggles to break all odds in a mission to succeed.
“Our gathering here, this afternoon, has great significance as we build on efforts of excellence and triumph of the collective sport and recreation community to further strengthen our sporting systems and structures to function for the better”.
That day on Heritage Month and in this day on Human Rights Month necessitates me to pay tribute and homage to those individuals whose mortal remains had been laid to rest for the betterment of sport and recreation in South Africa.
In particular, I was referring to people like the late Steve Tshwete in his determination to transform sport and recreation in the Republic of South Africa for the better.
In making sense of this I will borrow from the former President of the Republic, comrade President Thabo Mbeki in his address during the Dullah Omar Lecture earlier this year. President Thabo Mbeki had this to say:
“We should speak of what it is that makes us to value (our sporting personalities) as we do formany South Africans who excels, as our outstanding (teams) in South Africa and Africa, (Banyana Banyana and the Smoothies) belongs among the galaxy of stars that point our way to a better future…“We owe it to (them) and others who dedicated themselves to serve the people of South Africa, ready to lay down their lives, to ensure that we eradicate(racism and sexism in sport and recreation) and underdevelopment, ignorance and inequality in our (sporting system) and country, realise the renewal of (South Africa, Africa and the world), and contribute to the construction of a new world order of equality among the peoples and a shared prosperity…“To achieve these objectives we need the quiet courage of a (Banyana Banyana and the Smoothies), the South African Women Hockey Team, without seeking fame and acclaim. We need the steadfast attachment to principle of achievement, without expectation of personal reward. We require the unwavering focus on the interests and aspirations of the masses of the people especially (our sporting people). We must cultivate the use of our minds and skills to advance the interests of the people as did (Banyana Banyana and the Smoothies), rather than our selfish desires.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, I felt I cannot wait for August Month for me to raise these very pertinent milestones in the contribution of women in the changing nature of the Republic of South Africa especially in sport and recreation landscape.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the world has changed; and the world continues to change; and it is human beings that hold within their mortal hands the power to drive this change; and take their nations forward in the journey of change; and ensure that all humanity strive to abolish all forms of human suffering, including poverty, underdevelopment and diseases; and even hatred. Worldwide, human beings contribute in the struggle for change through their participation in many activities, including Sport and Recreation; with them they carry positive messages of human sacrifice and human solidarity.
They do this through the messages of peace, humanity, non-racialism, non-sexism and empowerment of the powerless; including fair play.
In our country this evening marks the celebration of another important phase and milestone in our efforts to ensure that our athletes and sports persons in general are motivated to strive for excellence. This day to us marks the beginning of a continuous journey of recognising efforts and sacrifice of all our sport loving youth in their struggles to break all odds in a mission to succeed.
Our gathering here, this evening, has great significance as we build on efforts of excellence and triumph of the collective sport and recreation community to further strengthen our sporting systems and structures to function for the better especially for young girls and women.
This function, therefore, is a token of appreciation and little gesture by the Ministry of Sport and Recreation South Africa, on behalf of the government of the Republic, to the flowers of our nation and daughters of the soil who fearlessly faced the foreign threats and became victorious against so-called formidable nations.
In this regard, this function is unique and it has been deliberately arranged in the hope that SRSA can begin a process of ensuring that South Africa moves swiftly in recognition of its own talent and excellence at all levels of participation; and move sport and recreation to higher trajectory and ensure that we raise our flags wherever we compete.
Fellow Compatriots, during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Fatima Khafagy, a women's rights activist and a board member of the Alliance for Arab Women wrote in February article headed “Now for the Gender Revolution”.
She wrote: “I want to see the opposite of what has always happened after revolutions take place, now in Egypt. History tells us that women stand side by side with men, fight with men, get killed defending themselves and others along with men, and then nurse the wounded, lament the dead, chant and dance when the struggle is victorious and help to manage the aftermath when it is not. However, history also indicates that after the success of a political struggle, women are too often forced to go back to their traditional gender roles and do not benefit from the harvest of revolution”.
In this regard on Saturday 25 February 2012, history was made in the battle field for the London Olympics Qualifier games in New Delhi, India. South Africa Women Hockey Team clashed with and finally won 3 – 1 over the hosting nation, India. South Africa Women’s’ Hockey team won their 2012 Olympic Qualifier Tournament after squashing India in the fierce battle for the ticket to London.
Like Banyana Banyana, our glorious Hockey Team have shown tenacity, agility and speed when conducting the art of sport in their business in the New Delhi’s National Stadium last Saturday. Before this, our undefeated women’s’ side beat Canada 4 – 1 after equalising with Italy 1 – 1.
Now we can boldly confirm that SA Women’s’ Hockey Team will join Team South Africa in their “Road to London 2012”.They will do this as a proud and exultant team to be reckoned with in the London Olympics in June this year.
Our unbeaten team takes the tune of a “winning nation” from Banyana Banyana who has just qualified in September 2011 after their heroines battle with Ethiopia receiving its ticket to the London Olympics. The Banyana Banyana victory against Ethiopia is historic given that it is the first time that a South African Women’s Football Team ever qualified for Olympics.
Since our Women’s’ Hockey Team are qualifying for the fourth time in a row; we hope that Banyana will emulate this spirit as displayed by our women’s hockey squad.
Let us now take this opportunity to offer our undivided support to all our national teams including our national men’s hockey team in all their endeavours to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. Like the Women’s Hockey and Banyana Banyana, we believe that our national teams will follow suit and comeback home with a ticket to the 2012 London Olympics. South Africa deserves no less than a victory in order to become a “winning nation”.
This to all of us should be a testimony to the words of Khalil El-Anani of Egypt in an article entitled “Egyptian Revolution Reconsidered”. He had this to say:
“Although the Egyptian Revolution succeeded in ousting the Mubarak regime, it has not yet managed to uproot the ills of its culture, value system and prevailing modes of behaviour … however, it remains a considerable way off from the upper level, which involves the transformation of social and institutional structures and value and behavioural systems so as to enable society to regain its health and proceed towards the realisation of human development and prosperity …”
This observation is relevant today to South Africa sport and recreation system that we need to move with speed to transform our social and institutional structures and value and behavioural systems in sport and recreation so as to enable society and women in particular to regain its health and proceed towards the realisation of human development and prosperity in the Republic of South Africa and equally be able to compete in an equal footing with all the winning nations of the world.
As Karl Marx wrote in the letter to his father in 1837 comforting him about the role he is playing in the revolutionary movement of the world. I would like to use his quotations to inspire women in general and young girls in particular especially those in sport and recreation fraternity:
“If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for humankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to the millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people”.
Even when we ‘sweat blood’ in our battle to conquer the coldest continent and mountains in our battle to win the trophy in the ‘Cold-Sweat” struggle for a South African victory in the Antarctica, South Pole, we vowed to be a winning nation because our sacrifices were for the benefit of all, and we experienced no petty, limited and selfish joy, but our happiness; after we concurred the peak of the South Pole mountain; belonged to millions of our people, our deeds will actually live on quietly but perpetual in the minds of millions of South Africans, and over the ashes of many sporting South Africans will be shed the hot tears of noble sporting people in the deepest heat of the ice cold echelons.
Hence it is befitting to pause and take stock on the road traversed by all the sporting women especially those who will represent our country in the 2012 London Olympics like our proudly Canoeing K1 500, the Rowing Women Pair and our undulant Athletic Women Marathon.
Team South Africa – Peter van Kets and Braam Malherbe, after living their wives, daughters, aunts and grandmothers as well as their sisters, stood tall and proud at the Geographic South Pole, next to the signage dedicated to Mr Ronald Amundsen unveiled on 14 December 1911.They seemed fulfilled after the displayed undying support from all these women. The South Pole signage confirms this when it articulates that:
“So we arrived and were able to plant our flag at the Geographic South Pole”.
To all the women of South Africa, Africa and the Diaspora “so we arrived and were able to plant our flag at the geographic South Pole”.
We have genuinely arrived at the 2012 London Olympics; only God knows how much more we can achieve in the London Olympic whilst at the same time strive to realise a totally transformed sport system that is based on principles of democracy, non-racialism and non-sexism.
As Karl Marx concluded that;
“History calls those men and (women) the greatest who have ennobled themselves by working the common good; experience acclaims as happiest the man and (woman) who makes the greatest number of people happy”.
It is in this spirit that we must, therefore, take this opportunity to position women to take their rightful place in society. We must do this to hold on and promote their talent and skill by investing in their sports. To us this should take a form of celebrating the spirits of our people – the people of Africa and Africa civilisation through sport and recreation using women and young girls as our bold link to the nations of the world, and say unapologetically “tomorrow belongs to us”.
The 2012 London Olympics should set out to further take affirm our women’s’ participation in sport and recreation to higher heights of participation and to make sure that they will stay at the helm of sporting humankinds and will stay afloat as long as humans exist.
As we traverse to the next century we must together proclaim that “today is better than yesterday; and tomorrow will be better than today” as long as “yesterday is a foreign country; the future belongs to us; and that future is literally in our hands.”
In the final analysis we must all live to witness the ‘Vision Statement’ of the National Planning Commission (NPC) in its report and plan 2030 when it envisioned that:
“We, the People of South Africa, have journeyed far since the long lines of our first democratic election on 27 April 1994, when we elected a government for us all.”
“We began to tell a new story then. We lived and renewed that story along the way.”
“Now in 2030 we live in a country which we have remade. We created a home where everybody feels free yet bound to others; where everyone embraces their full potential. We are proud to be a community that cares.”
“We have received the mixed legacy of inequalities in opportunity (including in areas of sport and recreation), and in where we have lived (and played), but we have agreed to change our narrative of conquest oppression, resistance, and victory”
“Our story is open ended with temporary destinations, only for new paths to open up once more …”
“It is a story of unfolding learning and victory.”
Let us take this opportunity to congratulate all our women in South Africa and abroad. You all make us proud!
Thank you.
Speech of the Minister of Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA), Honourable Fikile Mbalula (MP), on the occasion of the celebration of Banyana Banyana and Smoothies achievements on their qualifying tournaments for the 2012 London Olympics on the eve of
