Minister Marais' Speech at Bella Vista Sports Field pavillion handover

WESTERN CAPE MINISTER OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS AND SPORT, ANROUX MARAIS

PAVILLION HANDOVER: BELLA VISTA SPORTS FIELD

24 AUGUST 2019

Good afternoon, goeiedag, molweni nonke

I am delighted to officially handover the spectators pavilion to the Bella Vista Sports field in the beautiful Witzenberg Municipality this morning.

Participation in sport, skills development and talent identification are priorities of our department. We strive to contribute to the holistic development of our sportspeople, which include the building of team spirit and to create an enabling social environment for community upliftment through sport. I firmly believe the added pavilion will create the space to express the collective   passionate support for sport to contribute toward the reconciliation and development of not only the Witzenberg Municipality, but the province as a whole and the country at large.

Making this handover all the more significant is the tangible expansion of the social inclusion of spectators to cheer on their local sportstars at each match and event. To the spectators the sportspeople are icons of inspiration and to the sportstars the spectators are beacons of encouragement, feeding off each other’s energies for the betterment of the code as well as community upliftment. Even though the spectators are not officially competing, they too fulfil a motivational role and are therefore active participants in the success and achievements of local teams.

I trust the pavilion and the gees to be ignited on them will encourage more youth in the area to participate in positive youth development such as sport rather than partaking in anti-social behaviour. I also urge the sport fraternity to use this infrastructure to also foster new hope and inspiration to the community through sport and recreation.

Heartfelt gratitude is expressed to all who had a hand in the success of this handover today.  Our department looks forward to continued collaboration with the Municipality as well as the various federations and sport clubs because together we can indeed uplift the Witzenberg Municipality through increased sport participation and make the province a more socially inclusive, active and connected Western Cape.

I thank you