Adress by the Mec for Education, mr Siphosezwe Masango, on the Occasion of the School Sport Indaba, Emnotweni Arena

14 April, 2005

Programme Director, Stanley Radebe
Acting Head of Department,Directors
Colleagues in the Department
Acting Director (National Department of Education): School Enrichment Programme – Mr Kojana
Representative from MUSSA – Mr S Ali
Representative from the DSRAC – Mr V Gama
Educator Formations
Learner Formations
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

We are on Course to Educate the Nation!

It gives me pleasure to be part of this historic School Sport Indaba. I have no doubt in my mind that after todays’ deliberations a guiding document that will enhance school sport will come into shape.

I have just received a copy of a framework for collaboration between the Ministries of Education and Sport and Recreation in relation to all school sport and physical education programme.

The document indicates a clear consensus between the two Ministries that the transformation of school sport in ordinary public schools is embedded in the transformation of sport and recreation in the entire country.

Similarly, the transformation of sport and recreation in South Africa is integral to the overall transformation of the South African society.

Sport therefore remains an important vehicle for building a transformed, non-racial, non-sexist society, united in diversity. Sport is a catalyst in the promotion of national reconciliation, social cohesion and national identity. School sport is no exception and should not be left to chance.

When I took office in the year 2004, I had a number of consultative meetings with a variety of stakeholders in education. From those meetings, it emerged that there are a number of challenges facing school sport which needed our intervention. Some of the questions raised, which need well thought out answers from this Indaba, include:

Who is supposed to run school sport MUSSA or the Department of Education?
Who decides on the MUSSA affiliation fee?
Is it compulsory for a school to affiliate to MUSSA?
Why are affiliation fees not the same in the three Regions?
Do affiliated schools receive financial reports? If yes, how frequent? If not why?
Do schools have copies of MUSSA Constitution?
How often does MUSSA have AGMs?
Do schools still have formal sports days? If yes are they used profitably?
What role should the Department play in regulating the activities of MUSSA?
Is the department sufficiently staffed with personnel to effectively offer school sport as part of the curriculum?
Are schools well resourced (both financially and materially) to run sport?
Are parents fully informed and involved in school sport?

This gathering must therefore be able to determine whether MUSSA still has the capacity to carry out its mandate. If not, how can the Department of Education ensure that school sports lives up to expectations.

We need to be reminded that the Department of Education has a responsibility of ensuring that learners do participate in the sporting codes of their choice and must have an opportunity to develop their physical skills and competence to the highest level.

Remember: “A healthy mind in a healthy body”.

In the country’s short period of having been re-admitted to the international sporting arena after the demise of apartheid, our sportsmen and women have done exceptionally well.

In 1995 we won the Rugby World Cup. This achievement stunned the world. This was despite our long isolation from the international sporting arena.

Hardly a year thereafter, Bafana Bafana lifted the African Cup of Nations trophy. This was indeed an unbelievable achievement.

In Olympic Games, we were able to bring back a respectable number of gold, silver and bronze medals.

All these achievements were due to the role played by School Sport in shaping the heroes and heroines of our country in the various sporting codes.

There is no better platform to develop and prepare world beaters in sport than in schools. It is for this reason that I said school sport cannot and should not be left to chance. Our intervention must be goal-oriented and purposeful.

In order for this country to continue excelling in sport, we must come up with programmes that will assist educators and other stakeholders to deliver a quality school sport programme that will lead to a life-long participation.

We need to take our sport development programmes seriously. There is a growing number of people who are making a living through sport. We have Serena Williams (tennis), Brian Baloyi (soccer), Baby Jake Matlala (boxing), Darryl Cullinan (cricket) to mention but a few.

Failure to improve on our school sport, will be tantamount to denying our youth a brighter future. We must ensure that a monitoring mechanism which will ensure that all schools offer school sport as part of the intergrated curriculum is immediately put in place.

In conclusion, Programme Director, let us work tirelessy in ensuring that we produce more David Nyathis’ and Joseph Ngomanes’ (the recent Two Oceans Marathon winner from Pienaar)

Ayihlome Ifunde!