Programme Director;
The President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr JG Zuma;
The Deputy Minister, Honourable Mr G Oosthuizen;
The President of SASCOC, Mr G Sam;
The President of Netball South Africa, Ms Mthethwa;
Board Members and Exco Members of Netball SA;
Players of our national team;
The coach and the captain;
Sport men and women;
Media organizations present here;
Distinguished Guests;
Comrades and Friends;
Fellow South Africans;
Today, The Ministry of Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) would like to take this opportunity to wish the South African national Netball Team good luck in their effort to conquer the world in the upcoming Netball World Championships to be held in Singapore in July 2011.
In February 2011, the Ministry of Sport and Recreation South Africa announced its intention to galvanise support and mobilize society behind the efforts of our national sport teams to conquer the world and make South Africa proud again.
SRSA together with provinces adopted the concept of Magnificent Fridays as a token of appreciation and support for our teams to go and excel in the foreign land.
As a nation we are delighted and proud that our young sportswomen are taking part in many championships and world tournaments across the world, both at home and abroad. Our national Netball team is also adding value to this journey of global participation in sport by attending this prestigious tournament on foreign soil. It should stand as an inspiration to all national sports federations and sports people to emulate their example.
SRSA believes that the positive spirit of the 2010 FIFA World Cup must continue and that the all-round support that was generated for Bafana Bafana must now be inculcated into massive and overwhelming support for our young people across the sport spectrum, including the South African Netball team and the South African Rugby team as they also take part in their respective world championship events this year.
It is in the same token that we are reinvigorated by our strength and readiness of our national teams to go and conquer the world and represent our nation in the foreign lands. This is to support our sporting combatants in their endeavours to achieve excellence.
We did this to Bafana Bafana in the African Cup of nations in 1996. We did it again in the rugby world cup in 1995 and we won with flying colours. This was one of the greatest moments in the sporting history of our country; and a watershed moment in the post-apartheid nation-building project. And we believe that together we can do it again as we have done it when we defeated England in the 2007 Final.
We again take this courage from the outstanding performance of our national netball team, amaNtombazana from their victory against Trinidad & Tobago in the fourth Quarter of their Third Test in Cape Town. Indeed, our national team showed resilience, composure and agility under immense pressure when it counted most.We are confident that amaNtombazana will come back home with the Trophy. We don’t need to be at the top four (4) finish at the World Championships, but we need a win. This would be an affirmation that SA is indeed “an Active and a Winning Nation”.
They must do this to reward our nation to ever look at them as their outstanding heroines in efforts to make South Africans proud on and off the sporting field.
In return South Africa will do the same to say thank you to their hard work to keep the enthusiasm of sport alive in the spirits and minds of all South Africans.
To all other players, thank you for representing our beloved country in the international arena.Show them that you are also Champions of your own people’s dreams and aspirations and you have every skill to remain champions.
We trust and hope that you will enjoy a wonderful time in Singapore and enjoy the world-renowned hospitality, and that you will have sufficient time to enjoy the many splendid attractions of Asia and its surrounding areas.
Thank you!
