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Date
: 25/01/2006
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Jacobs: Launch of school support programme and
hand-over
MEC of Cultural Affairs, Sports and Recreation, Whitey
Jacobs’s speech at the launch of the School Sport Programme
and Hand-Over Ceremony at Sinethemba Secondary School
Thank you very much Programme Director for this opportunity.
Honourable Dugmore, MEC for Education
Leaders representing sport councils and federations
Civic leaders, councillors, school governing body members
Educators, parents and learners
Ladies and gentlemen
It is an absolute pleasure to stand before you and share some of
our dreams of making a better life for all learners, giving
practical effect to the ideals enshrined in the People's Charter,
that doors of learning and culture shall be open to all.
We are gathered today in that spirit, to put building blocks for a
better sporting future of our children. We have come to realise
that our strategic goals of focusing on developing sport to desired
competitive levels would be severely thwarted if not accompanied by
comprehensive facilities provisioning plan.
In pursuit of these objectives, the Department with limited
resources at its disposal committed to upgrading facilities to at
least seven schools per year.
I am happy to announce that so far we have been consistent in
delivering on that promise. Upgrading of other facilities will get
underway before the end of February at the following schools, HN
Dlikidla Primary in Beaufort West, Vuselela Primary in Khayelitsha,
Vukukhanye Primary in Gugulethu and Manenberg High. Ihlumelo and
Groenewald schools in Paarl, as well as Hazeldene Primary in
Mitchell's Plain will become proud recipients of new sport
facilities by end March 2006.
Sinethemba Secondary is one of many that have potential to unleash
sporting excellence and talent but it could not, due to lack of
facilities.
From today onwards, pupils at this school as well as members of the
community have access to brand new facilities. This delivery begins
to level the playing field and further enhance opportunities of the
marginalized sector of society disadvantaged schools.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to convey my heartfelt appreciation to
MEC Cameron Dugmore for the commitment he shared with me recently,
that his Department will ensure that new schools still to be built
will be provided sporting facilities as a standard. This commitment
will go a long way to alleviate the critical shortage of
facilities. Those who were present at the last Sport Indaba held at
Saldanha in November last year will recall the passionate plea I
made for the return of Wednesday sport programme to revive ailing
school sport.
I stand here happy ladies and gentlemen, that today we are well
poised to deliver on that promise. Clusters have already been
established and their needs received. This school will become part
of the Gugulethu, Nyanga, and Philippi Cluster.
The cluster programmes must be brought in line with mainstream
sport and in this regard we are working with the clusters to build
the necessary capacity to ensure quality sport is played within the
clusters. Training programmes for various codes of sport will be
conducted in line with their needs as expressed by the clusters.
Basic sports equipment will soon arrive to further capacitate the
clusters.
The Wednesday School Sport programme will focus in the main on the
following:
* 1st Quarter: Athletics and swimming
* 2nd Quarter: Rugby, netball, football, hockey, volleyball, boxing
and Indigenous Games
* 3rd Quarter: Table tennis, football, cross country, tennis, drum
majorettes, netball, indigenous games and cricket
* 4th Quarter: Gymnastics, cricket, korfball, swimming, dance
sport
In consultation with NACOC, which is the national school sport
co-ordinating structure, we will soon be establishing a provincial
schools co-ordinating structure (PROCOC) to ensure the smooth
running and organisation of school sport.
Finally let me congratulate the two youngsters from this school,
Zindiswa Nqothani and Khanyiso Matomane, for being drafted into
Kaizer Chiefs Academy following their impressive showing at recent
Soccer Kings beamed into our homes late last year.
Sinethemba Secondary has done admirably despite the lack of
facilities. Their achievements in Coca Cola Cup speak volumes and
were the key ingredient that prompted the department to earmark
this school as beneficiary.
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