Minister Anroux Marais' Speech at the Sport Legends ceremony

WESTERN CAPE MINISTER OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS AND SPORT, ANROUX MARAIS

2018 SPORT LEGENDS AWARDS

13 DECEMBER 2018

Goeiemôre, molweni nonke, good morning

It is always a great pleasure and indeed an honour to host our annual Sport Legends Awards ceremony each year. More so this year as The Western Cape Sport Legends Awards ceremony has become a traditional highlight of the year and today we celebrate 14 years of officially recognising our sporting icons while the centenary of Tata Madiba also draws to a close.

In the spirit of Madiba, we become mindful of the value and power sport has in not only nation building but to offer all who call South Africa home a sense of belonging in a national climate where majority feels abandoned and neglected. In remembering Tata Madiba, I think of the notion of disrupting, which is often misperceived as a relatively new trend in our South African context to date. Contrary to popular belief, disrupting and strategic disruptions to challenge and dismantle institutional inequalities have been a part of our historical make-up as a nation and loosely referred to as “the Struggle”. Icons like Tata Madiba, the Sisulus, the Kathradas and many others, personified the disruptive nature of the struggle and today we officially acknowledge our Legend disruptors who had the audacity and will to use sport as a tool to unite and empower our once divided communities. 

Those honoured today, disrupted in a very difficult time of our South African story. They did so not for self-gratification, but understood the power sport had and continues to have in creating a positive sense of belonging at a time when most were made to feel less worthy and that South Africa was not for them. The Sport Legends amongst us were clear in their resolve and steadfast in their mission to gain access to the various sporting codes the apartheid system had excluded them from. A mission we still uphold with much integrity in the work we conduct at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport today. Not only did our guests of honour gain access and disrupted the system of apartheid, they went on to hone South African ambassadors through sport with very limited resources and often under extreme pressures of intimidation and oppression.    

Today we wholeheartedly thank each one of our legends and their families for their selfless contribution in the role they have played in ensuring the growth, development, and transformation of sport during difficult circumstances. We also acknowledge the efforts of our activists, heroes and icons in shaping the future of sport in the Western Cape and South Africa as a whole.

Please click here for the 2018 Sport Legends.

Ons sportlegendes het as ons seniors 'n blywende nalatenskap gelaat. Ons moet hierdie nalatenskap beklemtoon, dit uitbou, daarop verbeter en dit in gedagte hou wanneer ons ons doelwitte as sportbelanghebbendes in die Wes-Kaap formuleer.

Ons legendes het keer op keer gewys dat sport die potensiaal het om lewens ten goede te verander en mense bymekaar te bring op 'n manier wat min ander dinge kan, en ek is seker almal kan daarvan getuig. Daarom vra ek dat jy jou verhaal van hoe sport jou lewe of die lewe van iemand anders verander het, met ander sal deel. Die visie van ons departementele Mondelinge Geskiedenis Storie-inisiatief is om die verskillende komponente binne die Departement van Kultuursake en Sport te integreer deur die verhale van gemeenskappe, insluitend ons Sportlegendes in die Wes-Kaap, vas te lê en te dokumenteer. Baie van die geskiedenis van ons gemeenskappe word net bewaar in die gedagtes van hul vertellers. Om ons verlede vanuit 'n unieke perspektief te verstaan, is dit belangrik om 'n formele program te bestuur om die waardevolle stories wat onder ons sosiale tapisserie verskuil lê te bewaar. Deur die projek word persoonlike geskiedenis en gemeenskapservarings gedeelde erfenis, terwyl maatskaplike integrering en gemeenskapsontwikkeling bevorder word deur met mekaar te deel en begrip vir mekaar se probleme te toon. Iemand het eenkeer gesê: "Laat jou lig skyn en deel jou reis met ander. Wanneer jy dapper is, veroorsaak jy 'n vonk wat ander aan die brand steek en inspireer om dapper te wees." Ons legendes het beslis daarin geslaag om hierdie atmosfeer van inspirasie in die verskillende invloedsfere te laat heers en daarvoor is ons hulle ewig dankbaar.

Vandag vereer ons diegene wat hul lewens aan sport toegewy het, maar binne ’n groter perspektief, erken ons amptelik die feit dat daar meer positiewe rolmodelle in die Wes-Kaap is. Almal wat vandag toekennings ontvang, is die bakens van hoop vir diegene wat moedeloos en hulpeloos in hul huidige situasies voel. Nie net het julle ons trots gemaak nie, maar julle het ook jul gemeenskappe opgehef, meer as wat julle ooit sal besef en daarvoor bedank ek julle.