The central Karoo town of Beaufort West will benefit from Government’s Poverty Alleviation Programme as well as from a contribution made by the Nedbank-sponsored Sports Trust. Joy Webber attended the hand-over ceremony.

Beaufort West, a small town in the heart of the Karoo played host to the Western Cape Provincial Facilities hand-over ceremony on a windy day in August where the Executive Mayor of the town, Truman Prince, proudly announced that, at last, government had taken notice of their little town.

 “After the 1994 elections it seemed we were the forgotten town,” says Truman. “But thanks to comrade Mbeki, we are now back on the map will benefit favourably from the input of the government’s Building for Sport and Recreation Programme (BSRP).”

 “We will now start seeing better sporting facilities made available for our youngsters and we all know sport builds character and strength,” says Truman. “We are proud to have decent facilities and are looking forward to attaining national and international standards. From here the sky is the limit.”

 “But even the best of facilities are no good without the necessary sports equipment,” Sandile Sayedwa, Project Manager of the Sports Trust, told the gathering, “and I am very proud to  announce the Sports Trust has allocated R1million to the Government’s Building for Sport and Recreation Poverty Alleviation Programme for 2003/2004.”

 The Western Cape has thirteen sporting facilities which have either been revamped or built from scratch by the BSRP.  Each facility will receive R12 500 worth of equipment from the Sports Trust.

 Sayedwa also encouraged the audience to make use of the Sports Trust’s Discretionary Fund where up to R10 000 a month is donated to up and coming sportsmen and women  needing assistance with sporting equipment or travelling expenses.

 “We have helped a number of youngsters travel overseas to show their potential to the rest of the world,” says Sayedwa. “We are proud to be able to assist and encourage our sports stars of the future.”

 One of the first facilities in Beaufort West to receive equipment was the Amor Green Hockey Club. Demonstration hockey games were played and MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport for the Western Cape, Patrick McKenzie, told the assembly the beginnings made on that particular hockey field, will be remembered in the future.

 Then the Kwa-Mandlikosi Sports Complex was officially opened and handed over to the residents. It too received sporting equipment from the Sports Trust to the value of R12 500.

 “You are all part of this and your contribution is to help build our nation,” McKenzie told the assembly. “Our future belongs to the youth and we need to restore hope and faith in them.”

 “No one wants to fail in life and sport offers our youth the opportunity to show what they are made of. Millions of young people in small towns simply fall through the cracks because they have nothing to occupy their time. The BSRP and Sports Trust now offer them the opportunity to show  what they are worth. I truly believe a child in sport is a child out of court.”

 One of the BSRP’s main objectives is that fifty percent of women and thirty percent of youth will make up the project’s work force. Disabled community members are also given the opportunity to participate in the project and residents have to be consulted and involved in the building, construction and maintenance of the facilities.

 “We usually target poor rural areas where we can create employment, mobilize the community around sport and encourage them to follow a healthy lifestyle,”  says Dean Barnes, National Programme Manager for Sport and Recreation. “Our focus is on social cohesion. The community is able to identify the needs and once they become involved, they have a sense of pride and ownership. We believe they will take care of facilities which they helped to build and accordingly will guard against vandalism.”

 The Sport and Recreation Programme is a poverty relief project in which the government has set aside R250 million. Started in 2001 with fifty five projects this year sees one hundred and fourteen projects listed. It has created several thousand jobs and the partnership formed by national government, the private sector, local municipalities and the Sports Trust has benefited many people in very poor communities.

 “This programme is destined to benefit the poorest of the poor,” says Solomon Pango, Senior Manager of Sport and Recreation South Africa. “The money is not for officials, but for the people who have nothing.”

 “The impact of the new facilities will only be seen down the road in ten years but we are giving our future sports stars a firm foundation as we correct the imbalances of the past,” says Pango. “Each facility must employ a full time manager and each municipality needs to budget for that position.”

  “I never lose hope. I can see the difference the sports centres are making in people’s lives,” says Sayedwa. “I want  kids to see what dedication can do for them and the important role sport can play in their lives.”

 “Some of the world’s top sportsmen and women come from impoverished areas,” says McKenzie. “Sport is vitally important to our youth and in years to come, it will be sport that changes the lives of many.”

  August 2003