Programme Director
Members of the Executive Council
Executive Mayor of Namakwa District Municipality
Mayor of Nama Khoi Municipality Councillors
Officials from the Provincial Department of Sport , Arts and Culture
Community Members
Learners from various schools from Carolusberg
Programme Director
Ladies and gentlemen
Allow me to open my address, by reaffirming to you that the Northern Cape Province Government cares about all communities and will continue to ensure that we are the trendsetters in creating a better life for all. I wish to thank you all for being here today as we hand over the Carolusberg Multi Purpose Sport Facility to the community of Carolusberg. This Sport Facility has been upgraded in partnership with the national Department of Sports and Recreation and the Sports Trust to the tune of R 600 000 and will allow access to this community of Noupoort to engage in different sport codes ranging from tennis ,netball , basketball , badminton and soccer as wellness and recreational programmes.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
For too long the identification, development and nurturing of young sports athletes was a privilege that was afforded to a select few during the previous dispensation. Our present government realizes the importance of sports as a key factor in ensuring nation building and social cohesion. We know that to produce excellent sports athletes takes years of training and guidance and that talented athletes should be identified form an early age.
Our concern as a department is that many young people in our communities are not able to develop their talents be it in sports, the arts, education or any other field because there are no programmes and facilities in place to identify and nurture them. This occasion today is a progressive initiative to ensure that talented athletes are offered an opportunity to develop their talents and therefore excel in whatever sports activities they are involved in.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Through sports, we have won the world’s confidence by hosting international competitions right in our backyards. We have witnessed sports serving as a unifier amongst people of various racial denominations and thus realising Madiba’s dream of building a cohesive, non-racial and non-sexist society.
As custodians of South Africa’s diverse cultural, artistic and linguistic heritage, the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture aims to develop and preserve South African culture to ensure social cohesion and nation building. And one of the measures to achieve this is through building and revamping of Sport Complexes where our communities can participate in activities which will unite them. These facilities are safe areas where our community members, in particular the youth can express their sport talents and interact with other members of the community on a positive note.
This facility will let our young and old sportsmen and women be able to practice and participate in more than 5 sports activities.
We hope that the facility will go a long way towards creating much needed athletes that can represent our province during Olympic games and other National and International competitions.
During the construction of the facility we created a number of jobs for the local community. We understand that it was only temporary, but I am sure that the skills obtained by the community members who helped build this facility is life long skills , skills which can be used as a testament to be employed at other construction companies. What is also of utmost of importance is that the very same community members who worked at the facility can be proud of their handy work at a facility which is developing the community members of the Nama Khoi Community.
Ladies and Gentleman, this facility is yours and an appeal is made to you as the community members of Carolusberg to look after it and not vandalise the facility. The complex must be used as a venue where the youth of Carolusberg can channel their idle time and energy into sports activities and not in the social ills of society, - abuse of alcohol and drugs or become members of gangs, etc.
Government has invested in the Community of Carolusberg , by not only constructing this Facility , but with the construction of a Multi Million Rand Sisonke Community Library which was officially opened on the 24 October 2018 .
We care about you and the development of your Community so therefore I am pleading with you to please ,look after it , take ownership of it and utilise it optimally for the development of our children.
Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion I would just like to quote a wise man by the name of Dr. Nelson Mandela who once said “Sports can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination”
I thank you!
