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Date : 22/03/2004
Source: The Presidency
Title: J Zuma: Opening ceremony of SA Games


ADDRESS BY DEPUTY PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE SECOND SOUTH AFRICA GAMES AT THE ABSA STADIUM, BUFFALO CITY, EASTERN CAPE, 22 March 2004

Honourable Minister of Sports and Recreation, Ngconde Balfour
Your Excellency Premier of the Eastern Cape, Reverend Makhenkesi Stofile
Executive Mayor of Buffalo City, Councillor Sindisile Maclean
MECs, Councillors
Participating athletes and officials
Distinguished guests

I am deeply honoured to be part of this very important date in South African sporting calendar. I am also aware that these games we open today take place just a day after our country and its people have celebrated Human Rights Day.

21 March 1960 remains deeply etched in our memories as one of the days that influenced change in the political history of South Africa. It was the day when unarmed people of Sharpeville Township experienced the cruelty of the apartheid security apparatus. As the same brutality was being experienced in other parts of the country during the same period, methods of the struggle had to change from non-violent means to the armed struggle by those in the main whose rights were systematically suppressed and taken away by apartheid.

It is for this reason that we look back today and celebrate it as a day that contributed to the struggle for the liberation and Human Rights in South Africa.

It is on this day every year that we join hands to affirm our collective belief in that South Africa belongs to all who live in it and that now we are all equal in terms of our constitution and other laws of our country.

While the winning of the struggle ensured that all South Africans get equal opportunities in sport and other fields, our equality and freedom have been important motivating factors to our sport and our athletes.

We are also proud to stand here in the full knowledge that so many of our people sacrificed so much in order for us to be free as a nation. We remember in particular today the late Minister of Transport Advocate Dullah Omar, who passed away last week, and many others who made this democracy possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is also very significant that Buffalo City has been chosen to host the second South Africa Games. The citizens of this municipality and all of us take pride in the fact that the city was in December last year judged as the best municipality in the country by winning the inaugural Vuna Award.

This accolade was closely followed by the ZK Matthews Award that was bestowed on the city by His Excellency, President Thabo Mbeki, in January this year as the best municipality under the jurisdiction of the African National Congress.

We are also very aware Mr Premier Stofile that the Eastern Cape is regarded as the cradle of certain sporting codes among the black communities, in particular cricket and rugby. It has also featured prominently in boxing.

Monde Zondeki, Makhaya Ntini, Mark Boucher, Vuyani Bungu, Eric Majola and Sobizana Mngqikana are some of the many products of this province. Majola and Mngqikana ranked among the best in rugby but because of apartheid they never made it to the national rugby team.

It is therefore with pride and appreciation of a rich sporting tradition that we can say to you - the city and the province - that you have earned the stripes to host this prestigious event, directed at the young athletes of our country.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have no doubt in my mind that sport has the ability to build bridges across the divisions among our citizens. It is in sport that we all unite under one banner of our beautiful country South Africa. As any South African can tell you, tempers flare whenever anything wrong happens in sport.

It has succeeded in bringing together people from diverse backgrounds who celebrate victories of our teams and who just as easily bemoan our fate when these teams do not live up to expectations.

There is a passion for sport in our country, and that makes it one of valuable instruments in our quest for moral regeneration.

Sport can also contribute immensely towards building a nation where values of morality, justice, equality, freedom, democracy, tolerance and fairness stand paramount.

Participating athletes, as young people in the prime of your lives, there is so much for you to be building on; your future can only be a bright one, one of opportunities.

Doors are constantly being opened for you where you can put your skills and potential as young sportsmen and sportswomen to good effect.

These South Africa Games are yet another vehicle for you to showcase your sporting prowess. It should be the ladder of opportunity for you to reach even greater heights in your blossoming careers. Representing your province in the 13 respective codes of sport is an honour that few will enjoy.

As the chosen representatives of your provinces, you must now set yourselves the goal of going beyond this. You must be reaching for the pinnacle in sport - that of representing South Africa on the international stage.

While some of you might already have enjoyed this prestige at youth and junior level, today you are encouraged further to represent your country at the highest level possible, this being the year of the Olympic Games in Athens.

Young athletes, as the cream of your respective provinces, you have been identified as having the potential to do just that. But it will not come easy. It will demand sacrifice, commitment, dedication and consistency.

But most of all, it will require the necessary resources. Fortunately, as you might be aware, Cabinet has approved the establishment of a National Sports Academy. This government has set aside funding for the launch of a pilot project of the National Academy that will come on track later this year.

It is envisaged that the National Sport Academy will be the vehicle that prepares you for excellence at the highest level. In conjunction with the provincial sport academies, the National Sport Academy will also provide you with training and the expertise to reach your full potential.

It is from your ranks that we want to see our future stars emerge. It is from your ranks that we want to draw stars to represent us on the Continent as well as at a global stage.

In the same way that Mbulaheni Mulaudzi, Bennie McCarthy and Hestrie Cloete have given the world notice that they ignore South Africans at their own peril, you can use the next four days to give notice to South Africa that you are prepared to take up the challenge to be among the world's best.

I want to urge the 5 000 competitors from our nine provinces and the officials to make the South Africa Games 2004 an event that takes a proud place in our celebration of our first decade of freedom.

Let your message of readiness reverberate around the countryside as you strive to deliver your best both as individuals and as teams.

Minister Balfour, Premier Stofile, Executive Mayor, participants, officials, parents and spectators, it gives me tremendous pleasure to now declare the second South Africa Games officially open in Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape Province.

May the Games be dominated by unity, spirit of achievement, high standards and ultimate glory.

I thank you.

Issued by: The Presidency
22 March 2004

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