Sport is the one 'language' in South Africa that everyone understands and its significance when it comes to nation building cannot be overemphasised.
Thus, it is important that everyone in South Africa feels the same about the significance of promoting leisure activities in all communities so as to establish a healthy and active lifestyle for all.
South Africa has a long history of excellent sport achievements and top athletes. The Department of Sport's programmes and the application of its budget must contribute to a sustainable record of achievement by promoting sport activities from school level right up to a professional level.
Unfortunately, there are various obstacles, created by the ANC government, standing in the way of a good record of achievement, true nation building and social cohesion.
The pressure that the government is putting on all sport teams to reflect the country's demography is becoming greater. It is, however, not possible seeing as sport is a competitive activity. People simply cannot be forced to like a certain sport, participate in it or perform well in it. Merit should be the only measure, as is the case in the rest of the world.
If the ANC government really is serious about the development of sport, the focus should rather be on developing sport activities from junior level and creating proper sport facilities. Cosmetic and forced transformation combined with a lack of proper sport facilities add up to a recipe for disaster.
The sport facilities in the Free State are a shining example of the deterioration. From Edenburg all the way to Sasolburg, there is not a single usable swimming pool. The same goes for all the other community sport facilities where athletes previously competed and practised.
The spending of the R620 million that the Department allocated to the provinces for the promotion and development of sport must be monitored closely to ensure that athletes ultimately benefit from it and that the money does not get lost somewhere along the way due to corruption.
The government must stop interfering in sport. Rather create an environment where all sports can be developed and where all athletes have equal opportunities to participate. The ANC government's constant interference with the selection of sports teams is threatening our once proud sporting nation.
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