We take time to recall the strides we have made in sport and recreation transformation in South Africa.
We need to painfully expose the atrocities of Apartheid colonialism against both the black and white children in our country.
Together we should tell the stories and celebrate the achievement of all sportsmen and women who used sport to break the backbone of Apartheid in our country by among other things “honouring all those who chipped away at the walls of racial discrimination and Apartheid through sport”.
The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) of South Africa states that:
“One of the cruelest legacies of apartheid is its distortion of sport and recreation in our society, the enforced segregation of these activities and the gross neglect in providing sport and recreation facilities for the majority of South Africa’s people. This has denied millions of people and particularly youth the right to a normal and healthy life”.
Twenty years on, is it still necessary for the Government of the Republic of South Africa and sport and recreation fraternity in South Africa (SRSA) to continue to affirm the notion that sport and recreation ‘stands at the epicenter of the principles and values for a better life for all our people’?
Indeed it is; we should continue to honour all our people, black and white, who have made immense contributions in the fight against apartheid sport in our country as well as honour all those who made their mark in the establishment of a sport and recreation system that is united, non-racial, democratic, non-sexist and excellent.
We must do this because today ‘we are fortunate to enjoy complete freedom in sport and recreation, yet we should not forget the past’.
We must use the 2014 exhibition to reflect on our achievements since the birth of democracy in 1994 whilst at the same time honouring and featuring our people in the history of sport during the struggle years in South Africa.
Everyone should know that this exhibition is part and parcel of our integrated mechanisms to promote and celebrate social cohesion and nation building in our country especially among the youth.
It is for this reason that I would like to call upon all our people in general and youth in particular to join us at all our exhibitions across the country and participate meaningfully in SRSA’s education oriented programmes about the role of sport in the struggle for liberation in South Africa.
- You can currently visit the exhibitions at the following venues:
Potchefstroom Museum; Pretoria Museum of Cultural History; South End Museum, Port Elizabeth; Worker’s Museum, Johannesburg; McGregor Museum, Kimberley; District Six Museum, Cape Town; and Mangaung Library, Mangaung.
Catch 'Mbaks on Friday', a column by Fikile Mbalula on Sowetan LIVE every Friday at 3pm.
Honouring the neglected part of South African history
We take time to recall the strides we have made in sport and recreation transformation in South Africa.
We need to painfully expose the atrocities of Apartheid colonialism against both the black and white children in our country.
Together we should tell the stories and celebrate the achievement of all sportsmen and women who used sport to break the backbone of Apartheid in our country by among other things “honouring all those who chipped away at the walls of racial discrimination and Apartheid through sport”.
The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) of South Africa states that:
“One of the cruelest legacies of apartheid is its distortion of sport and recreation in our society, the enforced segregation of these activities and the gross neglect in providing sport and recreation facilities for the majority of South Africa’s people. This has denied millions of people and particularly youth the right to a normal and healthy life”.
Twenty years on, is it still necessary for the Government of the Republic of South Africa and sport and recreation fraternity in South Africa (SRSA) to continue to affirm the notion that sport and recreation ‘stands at the epicenter of the principles and values for a better life for all our people’?
Indeed it is; we should continue to honour all our people, black and white, who have made immense contributions in the fight against apartheid sport in our country as well as honour all those who made their mark in the establishment of a sport and recreation system that is united, non-racial, democratic, non-sexist and excellent.
We must do this because today ‘we are fortunate to enjoy complete freedom in sport and recreation, yet we should not forget the past’.
We must use the 2014 exhibition to reflect on our achievements since the birth of democracy in 1994 whilst at the same time honouring and featuring our people in the history of sport during the struggle years in South Africa.
Everyone should know that this exhibition is part and parcel of our integrated mechanisms to promote and celebrate social cohesion and nation building in our country especially among the youth.
It is for this reason that I would like to call upon all our people in general and youth in particular to join us at all our exhibitions across the country and participate meaningfully in SRSA’s education oriented programmes about the role of sport in the struggle for liberation in South Africa.
Potchefstroom Museum; Pretoria Museum of Cultural History; South End Museum, Port Elizabeth; Worker’s Museum, Johannesburg; McGregor Museum, Kimberley; District Six Museum, Cape Town; and Mangaung Library, Mangaung.
Catch 'Mbaks on Friday', a column by Fikile Mbalula on Sowetan LIVE every Friday at 3pm.
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