[ Home ] [ Speeches & statements ]

24 June 2008

Madam Speaker, Honourable Mrs YN Phosa
Deputy Speaker, Honourable BJ Nobunga
Premier of our Province, Honourable TSP Makwetla
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Head of the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, Ms Sindi Mjwara and other Heads of Departments
CEO of Mpumalanga Sport Academy, Mr BH Skhosana
Leaders of Cultural Groups
Language experts
Leaders of various Religious Formations
Leaders of various sporting organizations
Traditional leaders
Traditional Healers
Comrades and friends
Members of the media
Invited guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Madam speaker, as I stand before this house just over a month old in the Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation, I am reminded of Dan Wylie's poem entitled

Wood-Turning and I quote,

"Never too late in life, I learn,
To travel into a new skill,
Or perhaps it is only to turn
The one skill to different wood, the one wood of this life turned

Between spindle and chisel-
Love, hate, the abrading days,
The contingency of knots, the plain universals of grain,
Unsaveable flakes, terminal dust

Being turned into, what? An ideal
Leg, the embrace of a maple bowl, a fable, something understood,"
Close quote

Allow me Hon. Speaker to take this opportunity and remind this Honourable house wise words that were uttered by one of African's finest leaders, Inkosi Albert Luthuli in 1957 when he said and I quote, "the African National Congress (ANC) believes that the close spiritual and moral contact facilitated by a common society structure in one nation makes it easier to develop friendship and mutual respect and understanding among various groups in a nation; this is especially valuable in a multi-racial nation like ours and these qualities - friendship, mutual respect and understanding, and a common loyalty - are a sine qua non to the building of a truly united nation from a heterogeneous society." Unquote.

On that note, I'd like to condemn in strong possible terms with no reservations the recent attacks emitted to the foreign nationals and tribalistic attacks on South African citizens in various areas of our beloved country including Mpumalanga. Poverty, unemployment, and low levels of economic activities, should not be used as an excuse to commit hideous crimes against foreign nationals.

Our laws will not show any mercy to these criminal elements but we however take solace in the fact that the majority of South Africans are working hand in hand with government to uproot these thugs and extend help to those in need for the true realisation of the African Union's (AU) vision of building a prosperous continent which will be free of discrimination, human rights violation, poverty and other social ills affecting our mother land. South Africa is for all who live in it and so is the entire African continent. Therefore as South Africans, we need to embrace and uphold the fundamental human rights for the restoration of our dignity, moral values and our rich cultural heritage as Africans.

We therefore want to reassure our brothers and sisters in the continent and in particular, Mozambique and Swaziland as our neighbours of our common loyalty, mutual respect, understanding and support.

Madam Speaker, we are a province of achievers as we have over the years made headlines in various fields and this year we were once again in the limelight when the son of Mpumalanga, DJ Sdunkero scooped the record of the year award during the South African Music Awards with his popular song Maputo Song. As in the words of African icon, Tata Mandela, the curious beauty of African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. You may be poor, you may have only a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope. African music is often about the aspirations of the African people, and it can ignite the political resolve of those who might otherwise be indifferent to politics.

We urge other local artists to emulate DJ Sdunkero and produce music that will put our province on the map, and as a department, we have always supported local artists and they have always represented us well in national and international festivals that we have send them to.

We are equally proud of Mpumalanga Black Aces that stood the test of time and made history in the country by becoming the first club in the Mvela League to reach the finals of a major cup competition in the Premier Soccer League (PSL). Not only did Amazayoni reach this feat finals of the Nedbank Cup, but they achieved this feat without conceding a single goal and even though they lost by a solitary goal to Mamelodi Sundowns in the finals, we are proud of our team and if they continue in this form, Mpumalanga's days of being without a representative in the elite league will be numbered.

"The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun." that is according to Napoleon Hill the earliest producers of the modern genre of literature. Madam Speaker, as we are nearing the end of the five year term, we were like an unprotected oak, we stood the test of time even through severe hardship.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may we be reminded that in line with the government mandate to create access to government services, to develop and improve lives of the youth, children and women, to provide arts and sports infrastructure and to build capacity in related fields to mention but a few, the department has ensured that in all its programmes and project we incorporate these mandates. May I present to you our plans for all four areas of our competency:

Administration

Madam Speaker, in line with the government quest to build human capacity in order to enhance the service delivery mandate, the department has strengthened its management echelon by upgrading the organisational structure to be aligned with the programmes structures of the department, to streamline our systems of monitoring and evaluation, to improve the performance of our administration in the implementation of the current strategic plan. We have so far appointed three general managers and one senior manager and before the end of the second quarter we would have appointed other five senior managers.

Cultural affairs

Language services

Madam Speaker, one of our mandates as the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation is to foster unity among South Africans and promote social cohesion among all communities as we believe that all citizens should live harmoniously among themselves. Language then becomes an important tool to achieve this as we know that ours is a diverse country and the importance of respecting each other's languages cannot be over emphasised as all our official languages including South African Sign language needs to be accorded the respect that they deserve.

We hold dearly the promotion of languages and celebration of diversity in our country as we believe in a society that is free from sexism, racialism and any other sort of discrimination. We are on a drive to encourage people to be proud of their languages and speak them without shame as our languages were on the verge of extinction during apartheid as no efforts were made to promote these languages. We are proud to stand in this august house and tell the language practitioners and all people in our province that we encourage writers in the province to write books in our indigenous languages as a way of resuscitating and promoting our previously marginalised languages such as Siswati and IsiNdebele amongst others. In this regard, I wish to inform you that the provincial language policy will be finalized during this financial year.

Our continuous efforts and collaborations with higher education is bearing fruits, The provincial language committee which advises the MEC on all language issues has partnered with Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) to further promote and preserve our indigenous languages through the development of the Siswati and IsiNdebele dictionaries which is currently being developed with the assistance of Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and Pretoria University. We further commissioned the writing and publishing of three books written in the indigenous languages through our Fundza for fun project; whereby up and coming writers have the opportunity to publish the books in two languages.

Museums and Heritage Resources Services
Vamanana na Vatatana, tani hi mfumo wa xifundzankulu, xiboho lexi hi xi tekeke xa ku hlamusela Matimu na Ndzhaka ya xifundzankulu xa hina a xi ri kahle swinene tani hiloko buku ya hina ya Mtimu na Ndzhaka yi pfunetile ku tsala hi vutshwa matimu ya xifundzankulu xa hina no tlhela yi kombisa timhaka leti nkarhi lowu nga hundza a ti nga vuriwi. Buku ya hina yi kumile mpfuxeto lowu nga ri ki wa ntolovelo ku suka eka maphephehungu ya laha tikweni naswona yi vile buku leyi ku nga vulavuriwa hi yona ngopfu eka mahungu. Sweswi i matimu ku va buku yaleyo yi vhoteriwile ku va buku yo ka yi nga ri ya fikixini ya lembe. Ha tinyungubyisa ku tivisa yindlu leyi leswaku nkomiso wa tivhexini ta Xiswati na Xindhevele wa Buku ya Matimu na Ndzhaka ya Mpumalanga na xiletelo xa mudyondzisi swi ta hetisisiwa hi Mawuwani 2008, hi Phurofesa Peter Delius na xipano xa yena. Hi tshemba leswaku matsalwa lawa ya ta kumeka hi nh'weti leyi ya ndzhaka lembe leri.

Madam Speaker, we will this year also be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the famous Potato Boycott that took place in Bethal in the Gert Sibande District. In this regard, the department and other relevant stakeholders such as the Provincial Heritage Resource Agency (PHRA) and the South African Resource Agency (SAHRA), have started the process of upgrading the Nomoya Masilela Museum (formerly known as Bethal Museum) and developing the Gert Sibande Cultural Heritage Precinct where the statues of Gert Sibande and Nokuthula Simelane, will be erected. Exhibitions on their lives and times together with that of Govan Mbeki, Nomoya Masilela and, "Slim Dick" Mtsweni will be mounted in the museum. The research process for the content, design and storylines has already commenced. This process is expected to be completed by the end of August 2008

Iprojekthi le izakuvulwa ngeLanga lamaGugu, ngomhlaka 24 kuKhukkulamungu 2008 eBethal. UmNyango uhlongoza ukuthi kwenziwe nomdlalo wetjhatjhalazi omayelana nokugidingwa kweminyaka ematjhumi amahlanu we-Potato Boycott, leyo ezakukhamba ubude nobubanzi benarha nakukghonekako iye ngaphetjheya iyokutjengisa ukugadangelwa kobulungiswa nobujamo bezehlalakuhle nepolotiki abantu abagade baphila ngaphasi kwabo. Umlando oligugu womdlalo wetjhatjhalazi uhlongozwa ukusuka eMpumalanga ngokurhatjhwa okupheleleko nangama-CD ubese ulandelwa yifilimu. Isigaba sesibili sokwakhiwa ngcono kweMyuziyamu kuzakufaka hlangana ukuthuthukisa amacabazi wamasiko azakuba hlanu kweMyuziyamu.

Gert Sibande, the Lion of the East as he was affectionately known, played an important role during the struggle against apartheid and he led the famous Potato Boycott in our province. It is for that reason that as the democratic government, we honour this hero and others like him, who sacrificed a lot for the freedom that we enjoy today. Gert Sibande was against abuse of farm workers and stood for their rights but it is regrettable that after the dawn of democracy, there are still farm workers who are still abused today and we need to all join hands and ensure that Gert Sibande's tireless efforts were not in vain and we shall not rest until we liberate all farm workers. A larger than life size monument of Gert Sibande will be unveiled as part of Heritage day celebrations on 24 September 2008 in the Gert Sibande District.

Madam Speaker, as part of the Greening Mpumalanga, Heritage and Tourism Flagship Programme for this year in question, we have identified prehistory and memorial site for development and grading in terms of heritage status. For the 2008/09 financial year, we will concentrate on the two sites, namely the Ntombe battle field in Piet Retief where the Anglo-Zulu war took place and reposition it as a memorial site, the other one will be the KwaSimkhulu memorial site in Emakhazeni, which is considered to have a significant status especially amongst AmaNdebele people and we intend to erect a monument in that area.

I also want to remind this august house that we previously spoke about the Makhonjwa Mountain range as the possible candidate for the World Heritage Site, May I announce that the Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism has already written to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) requesting them to include Barberton Makhonjwa Mountainland as part of the South African shortlist with intentions to declare Makhonjwa Mountain range a world heritage site.

As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that our heritage resources form an integral part of tourism development in our province we will together with the Nkomazi municipality be opening the permanent exhibition at the Samora Machel Museum in Mbuzini.

The 2010 World cup soccer tournament will see many of our guests to the country visiting our tourism icons. Pilgrims Rest Heritage site will certainly be one of the most visited sites. To this end we will continue to support the South African Gold Panning Association in ensuring that the gold panning experience for our visitors is exciting, unique and enthralling.

The Heritage, Greening Mpumalanga and Tourism Flagship programme will place significant strain on the human resource capacity of the department. I am pleased to inform the house that as a special intervention, a CEO for the flagship programme has been appointed. A Programme Management unit will also be in place to manage and monitor the successful implementation of all the projects within the flagship programme of action. This team will deliver on the programme over a 36 month period.

Mpumalanga geographic name changes

The identity and pride of a people always finds expression in the names they attach to either themselves or the things that surround and define their existence. Our continued efforts in the area of standardising geographical names has over the years seen our province transform at least 119 national geographical features including existing towns, new settlements, and various other geographical features that give our province its unique identity.

We are currently awaiting the report of the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC), which was recently re-launched by the Minister of Arts and Culture, on other names that we have forwarded for their consideration and the possible approval of the minister. The SAGNC held its' Sitting on 29 to 30 May 2008 in Cape Town and will be forwarding its recommendations to the minister in due course.

In September 2008 the Minister of Arts and Culture, will be hosting special Social Cohesion Hearings in our province in which provincial stakeholders in the standardisation of geographical names will be invited to join in the debate and make their submissions on the process. Our local municipalities and stakeholders are already being conscientised on this programme and this will continue as a build-up to the hearings.

Arts development

Make Somlomo, sitabe sisingetse umcimbi waminyaka yonkhe weMpumalanga Arts and Culture International Festival, lotayaleke ngekutsiwa iMACfest International, kusukela mhlaka 29 kuya ku 30 kuLweti 2008, esigodzini seNkangala Emalahleni. Ngekubuyeketa tinselele tanga2006, sitawucinisa sandla emsebentini wetfu wekuhlola nekubuka, kucinisekisa kutsi baphakeli bemisebenti bachuba lomcimbi ngekweligunya lesibanikete lona. Bekunene, kulomnyaka, ingcikitsi yalomcimbi kutawuba inhlanganisela yemculo kanye nekubata, futsi sitawuhlanganisa letinye tinhlobo tebuciko lekufakekhatsi imidlalo yasesiteji, emafilimi nalokunye lokusetinhlelweni letilandzelako temcimbi. Ngako-ke ngicela bonkhe bantfu baseMpumalanga kutsi bawesekele lomklamo.

This will be one approach or strategy to put Mpumalanga back on the world map and also position it as an alternative tourist or arts and culture destination in the country and the world. We hope that at the end of the festival Mpumalanga's rich cultural diversity would have been promoted, enhanced, showcased and marketed.

We have organised a Film and TV Script Writers workshop in partnership with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) content hub, where twenty promising script writers from all three regions of the province have been selected to attend the eight-week workshop to be presented by the South African Script Writing Institution due to commence in Nelspruit soon to unearth good script writers, who can tell compelling Mpumalanga stories, and to develop the capacity of locals and position the province as a destination of choice for filming. These selected individuals will be guided on how to write good TV and film scripts, preferably those exploring Mpumalanga topics. The department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the SABC defining terms of co-operation in this Film and Script writing project.

Cultural services

Madam Speaker, to preserve our culture and heritage, the department has put aside R100 000 (hundred thousand rand) to improve Emtfuntini Cultural Village.

As the custodians of culture in the province, we will continue to encourage people to practice their culture as in the words of a Scottish Historian, Thomas Carlyle, "Culture is the process by which a person becomes all that they were created capable of being.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Tjhagalani Kusephuka Tidzindzi Arts and Culture festival will be held at Gert Sibande during September 2008. This process will assist in identifying and promoting new artists' talents.

Through this programme, we have in the previous financial year travelled all the regions of the province and ran cultural festivals where we exposed cultural talents among our people. The Tjhagalani Kusephuka Tidzindzi regional cultural festivals were aimed at giving opportunities to upcoming artists so that they could be given exposure to make it as professional artists. It is for this reason that the department is supporting institutes like the Ray Phiri Arts Institute.

The Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, among other things, has a constitutional mandate to promote and enhance social cohesion, patriotism, nation building as well as reconciliation through the hosting of national commemorative days and events such as Freedom Day (27 April), Africa Day (25 May), Youth Day (16 June), Woman's Day (9 August), Heritage Day (24 September), National Day of Reconciliation, (16 December) and Human Rights Day (23 March). Undoubtedly, we are more than convinced that our country with its rich, diverse cultural heritage, presents a great opportunity for the department to engender a sense of belonging and national pride amongst our people. To this end, R7,2 million has been budgeted for the commemorative events and programmes.

Library and archives services

I want to remind this august house of words that were said by the seventh United Nations Secretary General and the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Koffi Annan when he said and I quote, "Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratisation, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential." Unquote.

Make Somlomo, siyachubeka ngemitamo yetfu yekuletsa ematsala dvutane nebantfu futsi kulomnyaka lophelile wetimali, sakhe ematsala lamasha lasitfupha (lasihlanu awo bekutakhiwo letindzala, sitivuselele satigucula taba ngematsala) savuselela lamatsatfu ematsala lasebentako eMashishini, Piet Retief nase-Elukwatini. Onkhe lamatsala bekafenishwe ngalokugcwele aphindza aniketwa emagama laliciniso lakhombisa indzaba leliciniso yelive letfu nelivekati.Sibukene nenselele yemlandvo wetfu longasatfolakali nekutsi sicela babhali betfu kulesifundza kusisita ekulweni nalenselele ngekubhala tincwadzi letitawukhuluma liciniso ngendzaba yaseNingizimu Afrika lengavuni licala kuletinye tigaba temmango wetfu.

Sigcugcutela bantfu betfu, labasha nalabadzala kanye nalabakhubatekile ngekufundza luhlelo lwetfu lolugcwele kutfokota lolubitwa nge Fundza for Fun lapho sishumayela khona kumimmango ngekubaluleka kwekuvakashela ematsala nekuwabona njengemitfombo yelwati lekutfolakala kuyo lwati lolubalulekile.

Carl Sagan, astronomer, educator and author, says and I quote, "The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilisation, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries." Unquote.

As the department, we have to attend to the unfunded mandate of municipalities administering public libraries, while "libraries other than national libraries" is a provincial competency in terms of Schedule 5 of the Constitution. As part of a national strategy to address the problem, and with grant funding from the Department of Arts and Culture, we have engaged in several programmes which aim to improve the infrastructure and services of public libraries.

We have realised that municipalities have different information communication technology (ICT) systems where each library's system needs to interface with the municipality's system and we transferred funds (in 2007) to seven municipalities namely Mbombela, Umjindi, Albert Luthuli, Govan Mbeki, Delmas, Dr JS Moroka and Emalahleni to roll out the ICT library system. This process will be finalised at the end of the municipalities' financial year and the roll out of the ICT for libraries will continue in each financial year until all libraries in the province are ICT compatible.

In this financial year 2008/09 the department will be building three new libraries at Mkhuhlu, Morgenzon and Siyabuswa; upgrading three public libraries at: KwaMachekeza, Wesselton, and Kanyamazane; and four regional libraries (in phases) at Middelburg, Standerton, Nelspruit, and Lydenburg and renovating one regional library at Ermelo. In this financial year 2008/09 an amount of R16, 224 000 (sixteen million, two hundred and twenty four thousand rand), which is a conditional grant form National Arts and Culture Department, has been budgeted for this exercise.

An amount of R3 208 000 (three million two hundred and eight thousand) will be transferred for ICT project to Nkomazi, Thaba Chewu, Bushbuckridge, Msukaligwa, Albert Luthuli, Goven Mbeki, Pixley KaSeme, Delmas, Dr JS Moroka, Emalahleni, Steve Tshwete and Thembisile municipalities. A budget of R6 500 000 has been set aside for acquisition of books and periodicals. We also allocated R7 083 000 to improved staff capacity in Mpumalanga provincial and community libraries by appointing contract workers to improve service delivery at local level and at the provincial level. An amount of R3 000 000 (three million rand) is allocated for the promotion of reading in the province through Fundza for Fun.

The constructions of the provincial archives building will commence soon and it is envisaged to be completed in two to three years. The archives building will serve the entire province to ensure that our administrative history and other essential provincial documents are preserved for future generations to comprehend our present. In the 2008/09 financial year, an amount of R15 000 000 (fifteen million) has been budgeted for the building, with a shortfall of R27,2 million for 2008/09. The total project cost of the archive building is R135 956 089. (One hundred and thirty five million nine hundred and fifty six and eighty nine thousand rand).

To ensure that at the completion of the archive building it is all systems go, the department has provided training on effective Archive and record management services, records management practice and records management policy to 44 municipal record managers in all three district municipalities and also assessed needs for the new financial year in both departments and municipalities.

Sport and recreation

Sport
Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to report that we have put aside R1 200 000 (one million two hundred thousand rand) for the Mpumalanga Academy of Sport this financial year for the development of sport and talent identification programmes throughout the province. The academy will together with the department and German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) pilot the street-soccer project in three municipalities, namely Nkomazi, Msukalikwa and Steve Tshwete and if the project becomes a success, it will then be implemented in all municipalities. The aims of the project are to conscientise people about street soccer and get as many people as possible participating in soccer and create the hype prior, during and after the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

The province will once more participate in the fifth inter-provincial games to be hosted by KwaZulu-Natal in December 2008, and the Mpumalanga Academy of Sport as in the past will help our athletes to gear up and be ready for the games through training camps and fitness programmes.

Madam Speaker, transformation in sport remains a challenge despite various interventions. One of the strategies we decided on in the 2008/09 financial year is to focus on 15 identified federations to ensure that they comply with political boundaries, democratically elect leadership that is representative, drive fruitful development programmes and build leadership capacity for effective running of these federations. For this strategy to be effective, the department intends signing a memorandum of agreement with these Mpumalanga federations, namely, athletics, swimming, cricket, football, rugby, netball, hockey, golf, table tennis, boxing, gymnastics, karate, basketball and baseball.

The department will continue to create opportunities for young talent through the South African Games in partnership with South African Local Government Association (SALGA).

2010 FIFA World Cup

Madam Speaker, the construction of the stadium is moving swiftly and we are aware of some areas of potential growth recently experienced related to the stadium, but we are happy with progress in the stadium and we have no doubt that the stadium will be completed by May next year as scheduled.

As part of dry run to the 2010 World Cup, the province recently successfully hosted 14 countries under the banner of COSAFA under-20 tournament which was the best so far. The dry run for public viewing sites for the 2007 Rugby World Cup and the African Cup of Nations were successfully done in the three regions in this current year, we will host COSAFA games for the seniors as well as the Premier's International Football Championships as we continue our quest to fortify our capacity to host high profile tournaments.

We intend to establish partnerships for the funding of the public viewing sites to mobilise our people in preparation for 2010 and beyond.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce that finally, the one-stop shop office for 2010 affairs has been established which will, amongst others, co-ordinate the 24 FIFA projects such as organising official viewing site.

Through the Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, Special Olympics South Africa has launched their program for individuals with intellectual disabilities in the province. About 77 new coaches drawn from special schools in the province and various hubs and clusters falling within the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation's Siyadlala and School Sports Mass Participation programmes were trained.

Through training, these new coaches will be able to reach out within their schools and communities to people with intellectual disabilities and offer them new sporting opportunities as well as an opportunity to be celebrated for their numerous abilities and courage. These programmes offer people with intellectual disabilities continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community at large.

I am pleased to announce that two teams of Special Olympics athletes from Mpumalanga participated for the first time in the Special Olympics South Africa 2008 National Winter Games in Tshwane a week ago, and the games were a success.

Recreation
School Sport

Madam Speaker, I am excited to announce that additional 52 schools are now participating in the School Sport Mass Participation Programme (SSMPP) in the new financial year, which now totals 157 schools in this programme. This brings the total number of sport assistants implementing the programme to 157 and each receives a stipend of R1 200 per month. All these schools will be provided with playing attire and sport equipment. May I proudly say nine of these 52 schools are learners with special educational needs (LSEN) schools. An amount of R7 166 000 00 (Seven Million One Hundred and Sixty Six Thousand rand) will be dedicated to deliver this programme.

Ladies and gentlemen, a total of 2 826 educators and volunteers will be capacitated in sport leadership, code specific training as well as events management to be able to implement the programme.

The aims of this programme are to mobilise our young people to host and participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, to promote national pride and unity, and build values of non-racism, non-sexism, attack on foreign nationals, tolerance, promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles amongst others.

The United Kingdom (UK) through the British Council also have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and 50 schools from the SSMPP programme have been linked with 50 UK schools since 2006/07. This is an exchange programme in the areas of education and sport whereby the principals, the sport-lead teachers and learners from South Africa visit the UK and visa versa and four schools in the province have been linked with five UK schools.

The MOU we signed with North-Rhine Westphalia is bearing fruits in sport, as educators and volunteers will be trained by the Germans to become qualified coaches.

Madam Speaker, still on the MOU, our department together with the education department, struggles to keep our heads above the water when it comes to competitive school sport. At this level, there's a high demand for resources and we hope that the treasury will come to our rescue so that we could continue our MOU obligations with no obstacles.

Madam Speaker the department has set aside R500 000 to capacitate football legends to become sports ambassadors in the province. They will be involved in coaches, motivation and mentoring of young football talents.

Through Siyadlala Mass Participation the department will continue implementing the programme in the 18 municipalities with 200 volunteers employed temporarily at a stipend of R1 200 per moth to deliver the programme. The 200 volunteers will be capacitated in code specific, events management as well as sport leadership to be able to deliver the programme.

As a legacy project the department will be establishing three regional supporters clubs for the national squad for 2010 and beyond. We will be sustaining the 60 clubs identified in the 18 municipalities in the last financial year and in the process link them with the football legends of the province.

A team of 13 players and officials playing kgathi will represent Mpumalanga in the International Indigenous Games Festival to be hosted by South Korea in September 2008.

For Siyadlala mass participation programme including the legacy projects an amount of R14 657 000 (fourteen million six hundred and fifty seven thousand rand) will be spent.

In conclusion Madam Speaker, we are proud to announce that the Charter of Positive Values' consultative road-shows led by the Moral Regeneration Movement have started in the province. The province is eager to ensure that all our people understand and embrace this document. The charter is planned to be adopted on 29 July 2008 in Waterkloof, Tshwane, Gauteng where all provinces will be represented. I surely hope that once adopted by all sectors, private, public and community based, all these sectors will implement it and contribute towards the restoration of our eroded moral values and social justice.

Madam Speaker, allow me to present the 2008/09 budget allocation for the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, Vote 12.

The total budget proposed for approval for this department is R208 933 000 (two hundred and eight million nine hundred and thirty three thousands).

The summary thereof is as follows:-

Programme 1: Administration: R60 307 million
Programme 2: Cultural Affairs: R39 318 million
Programme 3: Library and Archives Services: R71 105 million
Programme 4: Sport and Recreation: R38 203 million
Total: R 208 933 000

I want to take this opportunity and thank the Portfolio Committee for their relentless and professional support, my colleagues, members of Executive Council for their constant encouragement, Head of Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, Ms Sindi Mjwara, staff in my office, my family for their continued support. We will continue working together and make a meaningful contribution in the lives of our people and as President Thabo Mbeki said in the State of the Nation Address, with all hands on the deck and committed to conduct our business in an unusual and more effective fashion, we shall sustain the process of our reconstruction and development and take it to even higher levels.

May I leave you with food for thoughts "The poor, the unsuccessful, the unhappy, the unhealthy are the ones who use the word tomorrow the most" those are words from Robert Kiyosaki a well-known motivational speaker. I therefore encourage every one of you to use today to your utmost best, for us not to regret tomorrow.

Ndzi khensile

Issued by: Department Culture, Sport and Recreation, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
24 June 2008