13 November 2006
The Department of Sport and Recreation South Africa in conjunction with the
national Department of Education will be joined by the Western Cape Department
of Sport and Western Cape Department of Education in hosting the South African
School Games in Cape Town, on 3 to 6 December 2006. During this event the
Minister of Sport and Recreation, Reverend Dr AM Stofile, and his Deputy, Gert
Oosthuizen, will officially launch the national School Sport Mass Participation
Programme (SSMPP) and its logo. The KwaZulu Natal Department of Sport and the
Department of Education had a successful launch of their provincial SSMPP last
week in the Mkhanyakude District, Ndumo in Jozini.
The South African Schools Games will be attended by an estimated 5 000
learners and officials representing nine provinces. Three thousand nine hundred
learners will compete in the following disciplines: chess, basketball,
gymnastics, drummies, table tennis, volleyball, tennis, softball, and baseball
in different venues ranging from Kenwyn, Rondebosch, Bellville, Kuilsrivier,
Crawford, and Belhar. A spectacular display will exhibited during the official
opening ceremony on 3 December 2006, at 19h00 at the Bellville Velodrome. In
line with the government's initiative this is an event that will promote the
national identity and social cohesion, which will culminate in building a
winning nation and consolidating the African Agenda.
To quote the words of Sport and Recreation South Africa Deputy Minister,
Gert Oosthuizen, "We must restore school sport to the status it enjoyed in the
past. A status that saw the sports fields of our country flooded with learners,
especially on a Wednesday afternoon, during the inter-house and inter-school
matches. The school going youth enjoyed at least two periods of physical
education per week. They don't anymore! The rise in anti-social behaviour
amongst our youth, unfortunately, parallels the demise in school sport and
physical education. We, have to look no further than to prioritising the
reintroduction of these activities in our schools. The Memorandum of Agreement
between the departments of Sport and Recreation and Education facilitates
this."
Sport and Recreation South Africa and the national Department of Education
are now jointly implementing provisions of the agreement. During the course of
this year we will see 798 schools participating in 56 clusters comprising of
schools in close proximity to one another that will facilitate regular
interaction between them. It will involve more than 200 000 learners to start
off with. The strategy is aimed at obviating crippling transport costs that
tends to inhibit such interaction between schools. The availability of
financial resources currently constitutes the only impediment to a more
expansive programme. Sport and Recreation South Africa's target is to see, that
all 27 000 schools in our country are involved in the project.
Enquiries:
Bongi Sishi
Tel: (021) 304 5156
Issued by: Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Western Cape Provincial
Government
13 November 2006
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za)
