banquet prior to its departure for Algeria for the 9th All Africa Games,
Rembrandt Hall, University of Pretoria.
6 July 2007
Her Excellency Brenda Moloi, Algerian Ambassador,
Moss Mashishi, President of South African Sports Confederation and Olympic
Committee (Sascoc),
Mr Greg Fredericks, Acting Director General Sport and Recreations South Africa
(SRSA),
Presidents of federations,
Representatives of our sponsors,
2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) ambassadors,
Sascoc staff members,
SRSA staff members,
Athletes,
Ladies and gentlemen.
It gives me great pleasure to be here tonight with the cream of our elite
athletes. You are the largest team yet to leave our shores. Apologies for
Minister Stofile who cannot be with us tonight; he will be joining you in
Algeria from Monday. I myself hope to be in Algeria to reinforce our
Government's support for you towards the end of the games. The 9th version of
the All Africa Games takes place at an important juncture in Africa's
development. Our President launched the New Partnership for Africa's
Development in 2001. We now have an African Union in place, functioning from
Addis Ababa. We are also restructuring the Supreme Council of Sport in Africa
to come in line with these developments and to promote sport and recreation
throughout the continent.
As part of our foreign policy, we need to include sports diplomacy alongside
economic and cultural diplomacy. We all need to work together, to counteract
the cynical afro-pessimism which is prevalent in several developed nations and
which we have experienced with our preparations for the Fifa 2010 World Cup. We
furthermore need to confirm in people's minds that South Africa is one of the
most wonderful tourist destinations in the world and one which can and does
host major events. This is our contribution to sports tourism and to our
economy. This is why we will also host the Zone VI U20 Games in Potchefstroom
in October next year. You as Team South Africa will be the heroes and heroines
for Team SA next year.
An indication of how seriously our government is taking these games, is that
we are ensuring that they are of Olympic and Paralympic quality and standards.
This focus on the youth is mirrored by a decision taken by the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) 2 days ago to institute a Youth Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, we will not be joined by 3 of our star athletes, Lyndon
Ferns, Ryk Neethling and Roland Schoeman. They are unable to extricate
themselves from their university commitments in the United States. We have
tried to assist them to find a way to join us in Algeria but it was
unfortunately not to be. However, this provides a platform for the next
generation of our star athletes to show your mettle in preparation and
demonstrate you are serious contenders for selection for the Olympic team.
We as SRSA, with Cabinet's support, were able to fund the National Academy
Programme which has hopefully assisted all of you to prepare for these Games.
Let me say, this is the start of a new era in our team preparation process
being run by Sascoc. We just cannot afford to let our competitors get too far
into the lead without having some mechanisms to pull them back in.
There is very little time left for those who aspire to represent us in the
Olympic and Paralympic Games next year which are respectively 399 and 428 days
away. Grab this opportunity with both hands and prove your worth to be selected
by performing at your best at the Olympic Games of Africa in Algiers. Remember
that the Games is a rare opportunity to display social cohesion, brother and
sisterhood as they contribute to peace, building national pride and
self-respect. Use them to build better interaction with your fellow athletes
from other cultural, religious and language backgrounds. This all contributes
to building a better understanding amongst all Africans.
You are indeed ambassadors in sport for South Africa. Win with dignity, be
generous in both victory and defeat and reinforce our international reputation
for being fierce but fair competitors applauding great performances as they
will prove that Africa can and is competitive with the best in the world.
In closing, I would like to thank the President of Sascoc and his team, the
chef de mission and the federations involved in this process. It is a mammoth
undertaking. The success of your endeavours will be seen on the field of play
as our athletes perform and reinforce the pride of our nation. You depart
tomorrow as ambassadors of our rainbow nation! Go united in our diversity,
compete hard, play fair, but above all, enjoy what you will be doing!
I wish you God's speed and strength.
Issued by: Sport and Recreation South Africa
6 July 2007
Source: Sport and Recreation South Africa (http://www.srsa.gov.za)
