
Over the past month, South Africa has been on a glorious wave, celebrating triumphs in women’s sport. It is no coincidence that Women’s Month has come with some historic feats in women sports in the country.
Banyana Banyana made history in the FIFA Women’s World Cup by becoming the first South African national football team – men or women – to progress from the group stages of a World Cup.
South Africa hosted the first ever Netball World Cup to take place on the African soil. Despite the SPAR Proteas finishing in sixth position in this World Cup, they showed great fight in the tournament, which endeared them to South Africans. They also participated in what is surely one of the greatest netball games ever – their 48-all draw against New Zealand.
At the recent Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China, Team South Africa won 20 medals. South Africa’s women athletes won 15 of these medals. A special mention should be made to athlete Marlie Viljoen, who won a gold medal for the 400 metres athletics race, and swimmer Erin Gallagher, who won four silver medals at these games.
At the recent Commonwealth Youth Games, Alicia Khunou won gold medals for the shotput and discus. Women athletes made the 2023 Women’s Month a memorable one!!
I am so elated about these achievements. We owe it to them to do all in our power to afford them the recognition and support they deserve and more. May today’s celebrations be the catalyst for the continued honouring of our elite sports women.
I challenge corporate SA to join the Department in ensuring the as a country, we recognize, cultivate and celebrate excellence across sporting codes!! I have repeatedly supported the full professionalizing of women’s football and netball in South Africa.
On the sidelines of the Netball World Cup in Cape Town, where I spoke to the media on the SPAR Proteas and Banyana Banyana’s World Cup performances, I shared my intention to converse with stakeholders about professionalizing women’s football in the country.
I had noted years of talk and little movement to establish a professional women’s football league in the country.
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, has over the past few years provided support to SAFA towards professionalizing women’s football by establishing a national football league.
I have also expressed my disappointment that at this day and age, we are still having discussions on the need for women to be paid equally to men in sport. Women’s rights are human rights. Women must at least be paid equally in sport. If we must, we will make laws to enforce equal pay!
I must commend Netball South Africa, under the presidency of Cecilia Molokwane, for moving towards a semi-professional structure. There are opportunities for commercial partners to assist in moving South African women’s netball and football towards fully professional structures.
While Government has supported efforts to boost women and youth sports development in the country, it cannot do it alone. All stakeholders must play a role in realizing the aim to professionalize women’s football and netball.
I am pleased to be joined at this breakfast by some of the commercial partners who support South African sport. Welcome to Sasol, MTN, Red Bull (etc, etc). I appeal to you to continue to help us to boost women’s football and netball in the country.
While football is the country’s most popular sport overall, netball is the country’s most popular women’s sport, and is formally played at around 8 500 (eight thousand five hundred) schools in South Africa. The World Cup has taught me that netball is also a family sport- I saw fathers, mothers and children attending the games! We can all capitalize on that to grow the sport to the point of also filling arenas to capacity with happy families, contributing to social cohesion and nation building.
At the closing of the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, President Cyril Ramaphosa committed the government to build a netball arena in the country. The President noted that it should not be that such a highly popular sport does not have its own dedicated arena in the country.
The building of a netball arena in South Africa would contribute greatly to efforts to revitalise netball. I will be engaging with Netball South Africa on how this project will be rolled out.
That, coupled with developing netball courts and football pitches in more rural communities, would help to stimulate women’s sport in the country.
There is a need for South Africa to have a blueprint to develop women’s football and netball. I will set up a panel of experts in netball and football to lead the establishment of this blueprint.
Australia’s Football Federation has done this, just three years into its 15-year vision to improve participation and performance in Australia football. Australia’s national women’s football team reached the semi-finals of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the country’s best performance in a football World Cup.
Australia’s Football Federation saw women’s football as the greatest opportunity for growth in Australian football, due to the success of “The Matildas” (Australia’s national women’s football team). Australia is investing in the growth of women’s football by investing in talent development, establishing a women’s football department, appointing women to high-ranking positions, and aiming to have its professional women’s football league ranked in the top five women’s leagues in the world.
Last week, I was in Mbizana in rural Eastern Cape to open the first phase of upgrades at the Mphuthumi Mafumbatha Stadium. The aim for this stadium is to provide adequate sports facilities to local schools and surrounding communities. The focus here is also to support rural women’s sports development. This stadium has an artificial football pitch, a tartan athletics track, and combi courts.
When I visited this stadium, I was satisfied with the progress. I also saw opportunities to develop such facilities in other rural communities. These are the kind of sports infrastructure facilities we need in rural communities to encourage grassroots sports development. As a caring and responsive government, we have an obligation to give young girls from our rural areas hope!
What set South Africa’s bid to host the 2023 Netball World Cup apart from the rest, was its potential to build a legacy in the country. Government has contributed to this legacy by constructing up to ten multipurpose sports courts in schools. These include schools in Hammarsdale, KwaZulu Natal, where Bongiwe Msomi went to school, as well as some in the Northern Cape and Gauteng.
I am happy to announce that our Department’s Infrastructure Team will be hard at work at Cala Senior Secondary School and Mchawula High School, in Cala, Eastern Cape, building netball courts where Phumza Maweni went to school!
As I conclude, I would like to appreciate the continued support of the development and growth of sport by the National Lottery Commission of South Africa. Our two institutions are collaborating and even planning around national priorities to ensure effective and efficient provision of resources for the sector.
Immediately after this, I will be meeting with the National Lottery Commission to iron out areas of co-operation. A steering committee will-be set up to manage implementation of this co-operation. Women sport remains a priority to both!
Continue to make the country proud ladies!