Ladies and gentlemen of the media
As you would be aware that the Gauteng Provincial Government has in the past few weeks undergone some re-organisation and as such there have been changes in the leadership of departments.
We have also expressed our satisfaction with the work done despite the challenges that the department is facing. We believe the challenges are not insurmountable and therefore work has already started in re-positioning the department so that it delivers better.
In defining the vision for the future we are guided by Gauteng's rallying call ''Home of champions".
The following issues will then guide our midterm vision:
An efficient, effective and development oriented public service and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship where the department will:
- Explore the establishment of a Gauteng village for Sport Development. Such a village must offer various sporting codes as part of its curriculum
- We believe that this will help re-affirm our strategic positioning as a laboratory that produces competitive sports men and women
- We will engage with the Department of Education so that we focus our energy on the revival of school sport. We are of the firm view that schools provide us with a golden opportunity to develop and harness skills in sport
- We will be engaging with the Department of Housing and Local Government on the matter of integrated human settlements. It is our considered view that our communities must also have access to decent sporting infrastructure. Accordingly each human settlement must have a multipurpose centre for sport
- We are currently commissioning an audit of infrastructure that is in place to identify some (of the infrastructure) we may use for sporting purposes
- Soccer has proven to be among the biggest contributor to the drive to build a socially cohesive society. We will immediately engage the Gauteng based PSL clubs with a view to sharing ideas around the matter of bringing back the people to the stadiums
- We will be paying particular attention to the Festive Season Community Games that happen across the length and breadth of the Gauteng. In this regard we will provide support by ensuring that professionalism is enhanced through improved refereeing standards, provision of kits for the teams and other items that will help take the game forward. We will also engage with the organizers of the games to among others consider having 60 to 70 percent of the players being youths younger than 25 years of age. In the same vein, encourage the scouts and agents to attend games because we believe real talent resides there.
The department also plays a key role in driving the outcomes adopted by EXCO. Among others:
Quality Basic Education
We are responsible for the libraries within the province. We have taken a view that reading and the use of other services offered by libraries will go a long way in enhancing the quality of life and levels of literacy among the population.
We are looking at the current responsibility delegations framework with a view to ensuring that there is greater cooperation between the local and provincial spheres of government.
Social cohesion and inclusive citizenship
Matters relating to the arts, culture and heritage must be at the centre of our drive towards nation building. We are encouraged by the fact that even what is referred to as South Africa's ''think industry'' is beginning to grapple with these issues. The department should cease to be viewed as an events management entity and begin to confront the challenges in this sector. Among other tasks we will:
- Engage the music industry with a view of looking at strategies to sustain the industry and ensure that it becomes an effective contributor to economic growth. We need to also ensure that there are new entrants in the industry. Again, we must agree on a midterm vision that will identify talented young people who are writers, producers and singers. On the music front we have not taken time to develop new black owned recording companies. At the top of mind one can only think of Arthur's 999, Kalawa Jazzme and TS Records.
- As part of the ongoing process of forging a new nation, we will engage various institutions to look at the matter of telling the South African story in its totality. We must pay particular attention to the availability of books (literature), access to cinema, oral history, including encouraging the entry of young writers into the market.
Priorities for 2011 and ongoing programmes
100% Mzansi
In last quarter of the current financial year we will be engaging the radio industry on the concept of 100 percent Mzansi. This initiative is aimed at giving an opportunity to emerging artists to showcase their talent. Such an initiative will see at least two unsigned artists featured on a show where their music is played and analysed by listeners including an artist who is already established who will be providing analysis and advice to the artists.
Sports Heroes walk against HIV and AIDS
The Sports Heroes walk against HIV and AIDS is currently underway. This is one of the initiatives aimed at using sports to increase awareness, eradicate stigma and raise much needed funding for the homes that provide care to people living with HIV and AIDS.
The Sports Heroes will be visiting different HIV and AIDS homes as part of pledging support and showing their commitment to using sport to fight the scourge of the pandemic. They will also interact with young people by running coaching clinics in the various destinations.
Water Safety Campaign
In line with the government's attempts to reduce the levels of drowning in our province, the department in partnership with Swimming South Africa has introduced the learn to swim project aimed at empowering young people and communities of Gauteng on water safety measures.
We are currently rolling out this programme in all regions and in the next few weeks we will be intensifying this campaign across Gauteng by outlining the sites where young people and the community at large can go for lessons from qualified instructors.
For more information contact:
Emmanuel Mdawu
Cell: 082 808 6909
Source: Sapa
