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DAWN: Safiyia Stanfley: Address by DAWN Chairperson, during a sitting of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature, Kimberley (17/05/2016)

DAWN: Safiyia Stanfley: Address by DAWN Chairperson, during a sitting of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature, Kimberley (17/05/2016)

17th May 2016

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Honourable Speaker,

Let me dedicate this speech to United Rovers Football Club. This year, the club became the first team from De Aar ever to participate in the Last 32 of the Nedbank Cup. On behalf of the Democratic Alliance, let me congratulate Coach Freddy Oliphant and his team for showing South Africa that yes, we do have talent in the Northern Cape.

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Unfortunately, opportunities to showcase talent are few and far between.

The Democratic Alliance believes in an Open Opportunity Society for All, where your achievements are not determined by the circumstances of your birth, but by the hard work and the effort you put in to realising your goals. A fundamentally fair society requires that we build communities with inclusive amenities and equal opportunities for children to participate in sport and cultural activities. If we are not giving this opportunity to our children, we are denying them the chance to live in a truly fair society.

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Die afgelope paar weke het ons sportwêreld gegons oor transformasie en wat dit behels. Transformasie gaan oor meer as kwotas. Transformasie, wat ware gelykheid meebring en sorg dat spanne op gelyke voet met mekaar meeding, begin op voetsoolvlak – in skole en in gemeenskappe. Dit is daarom noodsaaklik dat elke kind van kleinsaf die regverdige geleentheid gegun word om deel te neem aan sport. Want soos Oregon Hoskins tereg in sy hoedanigheid as president van die Suid-Afrikaanse Rugbyunie geskryf het in sy ope brief voor die Rugby Wêreldbeker, (en ek haal aan) “As jy nie op skool begin nie, sal jy nie ‘n Springbok word nie” (einde van aanhaling).

Die Demokratiese Alliansie verwelkom dit dus dat die waarnemende departementshoof dit kon regkry dat daar – uiteindelik! – ‘n memorandum tussen haar departement en die onderwysdepartement oor skolesport gesluit is. Ons wil sien dat hierdie memorandum al hoe meer kinders van die Noord-Kaap die geleentheid bied om Springbokke te word. Ons hoop dat die memorandum haalbare teikens sal stel en sal help om skolesport in die provinsie te vestig en uit te brei. Ons kan môre verder oor onderwyssake gesels, Agbare Speaker, maar daar is nou een groot vraag oor die verbetering van skolesport in die provinsie – waar gaan ons leerlinge oefen?

According to the latest statistics of the National Education Infrastructure Management Systems, one in every three schools in the Northern Cape have absolutely no sport facilities at all. Of the few schools that are fortunate enough to have sport facilities, only fifty nine have infrastructure for athletics, only twenty five have hockey fields and only seventeen have swimming pools. How can we possibly hope to promote the provincial priority sporting codes without fair access to safe, clean and modern facilities?

Municipalities have shown themselves to be utterly unreliable when it comes to the maintenance and upkeep of municipal facilities. The teams representing the province must reflect the diversity of our towns. And to do so, we need to give our children access to sporting infrastructure – especially in those communities still carrying the burden of underinvestment in sport facilities.

The concept of sport focus schools will only go so far in addressing spatial development, especially when the department targets only six such schools in the current financial year. And the budget for the safeguarding of sport facilities is too small to make a significant difference.

True transformation – not the superficial kind which leads to silly bans on sporting federations, but which truly address the core of transformation concerns – will require ten billion rand over three years. This requires investment in infrastructure and concrete development of communities.

It is time for the Northern Cape to step up to the plate and to play ball. 

Honourable Speaker, the McGregor Museum knocked us for a six with the first presentation of their annual performance plan to the Portfolio Committee.

Laat my toe om die McGregor Museum geluk te wens met ‘n volledige, goed omskrewe plan wat duidelik wys dat die mense van McGregor ‘n passie het vir die Noord-Kaap se kultuurerfenis. Hierdie passie het ook geblyk uit die onlangse hofinterdik wat McGregor Museum onder leiding van Dr. David Morris gekry het teen mynbedrywighede op Kantien Kopje.

Ongelukkig wys die jaarplan egter ook dat die begrotingstekort vir die McGregor Museum reeds by drie honderd en tagtig duisend rand trek – en dat dit volgende jaar met vier persent sal vermeerder. Trouens, oor die volgende vyf jaar sal die begrotingstekort van die entiteit met een en twintig persent groei. Soos Nkandla se rekening, word die begrotingstekort net groter en groter en niemand kan dit werklik meer bekostig nie.

Die begrotingstekort vir die huidige boekjaar is sowat tien persent van die entiteit se begroting. Met die besparingsmaatreëls wat reeds gebruik word, is dit onwaarskynlik dat besteding nóg gesnoei kan word.

En terwyl die begrotingstekort groei, sit McGregor Museum sonder die nodige personeel om wette rakende finansiële bestuur behoorlik te implementeer.

The good work being done by the McGregor Museum needs to be supported. Let us go back to the drawing board, reprioritise the budget of the department and see what financial support can be given to ensure that the entity continues to thrive. The establishment of a shared service to assist with corporate services, including the full implementation of laws on financial management, is a welcome move. We will be monitoring the department to ensure that it is implemented.

It would be ideal if the department could be seen to share McGregor Museum’s passion for the culture of the Northern Cape. Yet again, however, the implementation of the Northern Cape Use of Official Languages Act remains an unfunded mandate. Not a single cent of the estimated six point four million rand needed to implement the legislation has been prioritised as a funded mandate for the department. Currently, the Language Services sub-programme does not even receive a full percent of the entire departmental budget.

Honourable Speaker, either the Provincial Treasury or the department itself fails to realise that the aims and objectives of the Act are more than just pretty words on a piece of paper – it creates fundamental obligations which must be given effect by the provincial government. If you take yourself seriously as a government, Honourable Speaker, you cannot adopt legislation and then fail to fund its enactment.

On this note, Honourable Speaker, let me remind the Member of the Executive Council for Sport, Arts & Culture that we are awaiting that report on the status and use of official languages by the provincial government for government purposes. In accordance with section 10 of the Northern Cape Use of Official Languages Act, this report must be tabled each year before the last day of March.

Om mee af te sluit, Agbare Speaker, wil ek graag die LUR gelukwens met haar bevordering en sterkte toewens met die nuwe portefeulje wat sy nou beklee. Daar gaan baie van u verwag word, want u dra die kultuurhoop en sportdrome van die provinsie op u skouers. Die DA glo daarin dat ons geleentheid moet skep vir gemeenskappe, veral vir die jeug. Deur sport, kuns en kultuur kan ons konstruktiewe alternatiewe bied vir die anti-sosiale gedrag waarmee baie van ons jongmense besig is.

Tydens die voorlegging het die LUR aangedui dat sy nie omgee om gehelp te word nie – ons gee ook nie om om te help nie.

Having participated in the relevant Portfolio Committee meetings, having expressed our concerns and having engaged with the relevant documents, Honourable Speaker, the Democratic Alliance supports the budget vote of the Northern Cape Department of Sport, Arts & Culture.

I thank you.

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