Programme Director
Deputy Minister; Hon. Gert Oosthuizen
Director-General, Mr Alec Moemi
All Athletes present here this morning
Coaches and Administrators
Parents, family members and friends
SRSA officials
Media organisations
Ladies and gentlemen
On behalf of the Ministry of Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) and the Government of the Republic, I want to convey our utmost support to all our athletes and officials who will go to Lithuania, Russia to represent the Republic of South Africa in the 5th Association For International Sport for All (TAFISA) World Sport for All Games.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our athletes and officials good luck in their endeavours; and wish them well in Games. Go there in the foreign land and represent South Africa well and live behind a living testimony of what it is to be a South African; a people filled with the spirit of ‘uBuntu’.
As the slogan of the Games say: “Active People".“Better World”. This Indigenous Games (IG) together with other related activities play a pivotal role in promoting one of SRSA pillars and at the same time providing equal opportunities to a wide range of communities in South Africa including in sport through the promotion of an “Active Nation”. These include, but not limited to, active and positive recreation as well as structured and unstructured opportunities.
It is therefore with pleasure that South Africa, after hosting a successful Indigenous Games (IG) event in Tshwane recently, won by KwaZulu-Natal Province, will compete in the 5th TAFISA World Sport for All Games in Lithuania, Russia from 3 – 7 July 2012. The Gold Medallists at the Tshwane Indigenous Games even will now go to represent our country in these world prestigious games.
The relevance of the Indigenous Games and these World Games will help showcase our Africannes and African values and historical plays. In an African context the games are embedded in the reality that our people across Africa as well as the Diaspora do share some of the value systems and have faced the same or similar colonial systems and its atrocities and assault.
These values and identities developed over time in the history of Africa.South Africa as part of the African continent has become part of this evolution. Despite the fact that global and colonial influences have had a marked and significant effect on the identity of African culture; efforts are continuously being made to guard against the erosion and adaptation of African Heritage as exhibited by Indigenous Games.
We want to ensure that the Indigenous Games play a role to defend the heritage and history of our people.These games should play an important role to promote our heritage, values and history. We want to instil and impart in the minds of all young people in the Republic a sense of belonging through play whilst at the same time promoting the Indigenous Games. We want the current and future generations of South Africans to value and enjoy these games; and transfer the knowledge into the next generations.
Hence, we believe that our Indigenous Games presents an opportunity for all our people in South Africa, Africa and the Diaspora to express their cultural identity as a people through sport and recreation by showcasing our Africanness, culture, heritage and value system through play and leisure as well as showcasing talent and skill.
In this regard, the participation of our youth in these games will ensure their continued physical and mental development, skills acquisition and transfer, promotion of African and community values, norms, culture and history through play, leisure and competition.
We, equally, cannot give free reign to the so-called popular sports at the expense of our Indigenous Games. It is equally true that Indigenous Games were deliberately neglected by the successive regimes of South Africa and that they were also suppressed, in favour the so-called popular sports, in historical and anthropological accounts of the indigenous people of the Republic, Africa and the Diaspora.
We, therefore, take this opportunity to position the Indigenous Games to be more attractive like other sports and sporting codes in our country. We do this to hold on and promote our talent and skill by investing in these games.This event next month sets out to further take these games to higher heights of participation and to make sure that Indigenous Games will stay as long as humankind exists.
Good Luck!
Thank you.
Send-off message of the Minister of Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA), Hon. Mr Fikile Mbalula (MP), on the occasion of the departure of the South Africa Athletes to the TAFISA Sports for All World Championships – Russia
