Transformation in South Africa’s sport was not about mediocrity, lowering standards or embracing one lot of people at the expense of others, Sport and Recreation Minister Ngconde Balfour said on Friday.
”On the contrary, it is about creating an environment that guarantees excellence at all levels. It is about creating opportunities for all our people, more so the youth who represent our future,” he said.
Addressing the annual Border-Kei Chamber of Business dinner in East London, Balfour charged that provincial and national team members were still being drawn from a small percentage of the country’s population.
He said the country’s sport was in need of major restructuring to ensure global competitiveness and to take sport to every corner of the land.
”We must dramatically increase participation levels as it is through mass participation that we are going to uncover the gems that will represent us nationally and internationally,” he said.
There was no denying that there was great sporting potential throughout the country that remained untapped.
”We will have to harness all the resources at our disposal to build us into a winning nation. No single factor can ensure this. It is through a combination of efforts that we will succeed.”
This, he said, included extending partnerships with business, continuing the drive towards transforming national sport, investing in both human potential and physical infrastructure, and developing programmes to expand participation.
During next year’s Cricket World Cup which will be hosted by South Africa, Balfour said it was important that the country not only does well at home, but also wins the cup.
”As a nation, we can win both on and off the field.”
He said in hosting the event, South Africa should emulate previous efforts such as the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the 1996 African Cup of Nations, and that business was central to that success.
There was a need to find the balance between the needs of growing sport and the desire to be successful in the short term, Balfour said. – Sapa