Programme Director
Colleagues in the Executive Council
Executive Mayors, Mayors and Councilors
Managers and Officials of the Free State Provincial Government (FSPG) and municipalities
Athletes
Ladies and Gentlemen
Comrades,
We host the fifth OR Tambo Games in the aftermath of the successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in our country and province. The successful hosting of this World Cup in our country was a befitting tribute and honour to stalwarts such as comrade Oliver Reginald Manyane Tambo who have sacrificed their lives for such events to can be possible in our country and our time. Indeed, when we declared that there cannot be a normal sport in an abnormal society that is apartheid, there was in no way that such events could be possible in this country.
Programme director, due to the conscious efforts of revolutionary leaders and statesmen like comrade Oliver Tambo our country transformed from being a pariah state to being part of the family of nations. As we engage in such sporting and recreational events such as the Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games and others, it is important that we constantly remember that men and women laid down their lives, suffered torture and loss of limb, endured long and protracted imprisonment for us to be part of those events.
Today we are here in Matjhabeng to, in our own small way, contribute to the
sustenance of the name and legacy of comrade Oliver Tambo through these OR Tambo Games. As we may know these games take place during the month of October of every year to coincide with the celebration of the birthday of comrade O.R. However, this fifth edition of the OR Tambo games was delayed to now as a consequence of factors beyond our control. We are nonetheless delighted that this year has not gone by without this befitting tribute to this stalwart of the liberation struggle being bestowed.
Ladies and gentlemen, comrades, I will not dwell into the life and times of comrade OR, nor venture into reminding us as to who this outstanding man is. We have in our midst a guest who will perform that task in a form of a memorial lecture about OR. I should only emphasise, more especially to our young athletes that it is important that we continuously inform ourselves about our past political and historical experiences and of the heroic efforts of many of our leaders who have contributed immensely to the freedoms and liberties we are enjoying now. It is my considered view that many of the social ills of drunkenness, murders, violence, drug abuse and so on, that we are currently experiencing now, particularly amongst young people, is partly due to a nation that has not come to terms with its past history.
Although I do not subscribe to the notion of a ‘lost generation’ I must agree that, because of our failure to continuously educate or remind our communities about the past, we are somehow losing touch with reality.
Through the OR Tambo games and other sports as well as arts and culture activities it is our quest to ensure social cohesion and nation building. By participating in sport as well as arts and culture activities communities become detached or removed from these social ills that I have mentioned. By getting to know their heritage, be it a political or cultural heritage, individuals get in touch with their true self and do not become alienated from themselves, their fellow human beings and their environment.
During the course of this weekend our athletes from across the Free State will showcase their talent in various sporting codes. I want to encourage you as athletes to take these games seriously and show discipline both in and outside the field of play. Remember the leader under whose name these games are played. This is a name that cannot and will never be associated with anything improper or unbecoming.
As you engage in these games as athletes you are being watched as part of the talent identification programme. Your further participation in future sporting events, even at a higher level, depends on how you continue to perform at this and other events. You have been selected to participate in these provincial games having performed well at both the local and district levels. Had you not done well at local and district levels you will not be here. So, take that as an example of what I am talking about.
As the department we will continue to create an environment for your participation in sport throughout the year. Through the School Mass Participation Programme, if you are still in school, you will be actively engaged in sport. Through the Community Sport Programme we will engage you in sporting activities within your local communities.
Next weekend the Sipho Mutsi games are taking place still here in Matjhabeng, at Kutlwanong/Odendaalsrus. The Sipho Mutsi games are also dedicated to one of the fighters for freedom, Sipho Mutsi, who was tortured to death by the apartheid security machinery. I suppose some if not most of you will also be participating in these games.
Programme director, may I take this opportunity to wish you all the best in
the fifth OR Tambo games. May the best team win.
I thank you.
Source: Free State Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation
Province
