MEDIA RELEASE BY MEC FOR DEPARTMENT OF SPORT, ARTS, CULTURE AND RECREATION MS BARBARA CREECY

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL CLUSTER BRIEFINGS

Tuesday 22 February 2005

Gautengers have many creative and innovative ideas for what they can do to assist in making FIFA's 2010 Soccer World Cup the best ever. In an effort to mobilise our people's ideas and to give them a chance to share them with government and other role-players, my department is inviting citizens of the province to let us hear from them on-line via the following e-mail address: gauteng2010w@gpg.gov.za. This address will operate for the next four (4) months.

We are taking this innovative approach because over the last several months, many residents, clubs, and fan groups have approached us with ideas on what they want to do to assist the Local Organising Committee in the build up to 2010. Some of the ideas we have already received include ways to identify and developing football talent, building the love of soccer at a mass level and using the world cup to promote competitive sport, arts and culture, youth development and tourism in our province.

By setting up the online link, the Department is making it easier for learners, sports fans and community members to have their say.

Last year we launched our campaign to make Gauteng the home of competitive sports. The province has hosted, among other events, the Vodacom Challenge, the Mandela Cup, Telkom Charity Cup, CAF Women's Soccer Tournament, Tri-Nations rugby at Ellis Park and the finals of the Kay Motsepe Cup, a soccer development event, the Soweto and the City to City marathons and the 94.7 Cycle Challenge.

We are planning to hold a series of meetings, which will culminate in a sport indaba in May 2005 with the respective sporting codes on how together we can strengthen and broaden participation by players, supporters, sponsors and other sport stakeholders in making Gauteng a better home for competitive sport.

One of our top priorities will be to work with the Local Organizing Committee, other spheres of government and soccer stakeholders to undertake the necessary preparatory work that will ensure the success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament. By the end of July, a high level political committee including three MEC's and local government representatives will have finalised a plan of action to ensure a common approach to implement the commitments made during the bid process. It is important that all spheres of government move from general commitments to specific commitments.

The Premier noted that provincial government is committed to ensuring that the people of Gauteng share in the benefits the world cup can bring. In this regard the Department of Sports, Recreation Arts and Culture have invested R48 million in sports arts and culture infrastructure in historically disadvantaged communities. In line with our commitment to promote soccer in historically disadvantaged communities we spent R11.5 million on stadiums in Kathlehong, Vosloorus and Atteridgeville. We also completed phase two construction of multipurpose centres in Onverwacht, Ratanda, Poortjie and Tsheptisong.

This year we will be giving greater focus to providing organised sports and cultural activities. This will ensure young people in particular take part in sports or cultural activities on a regular basis and help with the province's overall objective of promoting safe and sustainable communities. Over the past year 50 000 youth participated in organised sports and recreational activities at the 8 centres where we have piloted our mass participation programme.

On the Arts and Culture front we have responded to concerns from the arts community and introduced reforms within the Gauteng Arts Council to make it simpler for artists to apply for government support and easier for government to monitor whether these resources achieve their intended goals. Later this month we will publish the names of all organisations to receive grants in the past year and explain procedures for artists to apply for support to attend the major arts festivals this year. We want to ensure that Gauteng artists have access to all the necessary information on these procedures.

The Premier also noted in his State of the Province address that this year we will be taking forward plans to host a revamped Gauteng Carnival as part of an annual event in Heritage Month to showcase our arts, culture and heritage while simultaneously developing skills and promoting tourism, investment and business opportunities in the province.

The Carnival will not only build social cohesion and national identity, it will also provide a platform for the development of skills in diverse art forms ranging from performance skills and visual arts to costume design and events management. Plans are underway to train 15 carnival troupes involving nearly 5000 people in holiday camps later this year. Carnival is unlike any other cultural or artistic medium as it is a free event in which all participate. Its success rests on the extent to which it is embedded in a community as includes a cross section of people. The department's role is to facilitate an enabling environment where communities of Gauteng could reflect an indigenous and diverse carnival.