Statement on Cabinet Meeting of 2 June 2010

Cabinet held its ordinary meeting in Cape Town yesterday, 2 June 2010.

Cabinet welcomed the announcement of the 23 Bafana Bafana players who will make up the squad to represent the nation in the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament. The team carries the hopes and pride of millions of South Africans. It is encouraging indeed to see that the nation is going all out to give the team its full support. The team's performance over the past few weeks has improved tremendously, thanks to the efforts of the players, team management particularly Mr Carlos Perreira and his technical team.

With just seven days to go, Cabinet joins millions of South Africans in wishing Bafana Bafana, and all the other participating African teams, the best of luck in the forthcoming 2010 World Cup.

Government is pleased to note that the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and Bafana Bafana's performance in particular, is already playing a key role to promote nation building. Millions of South Africans from all walks of life are wearing shirts and other regalia to support Bafana Bafana every single day, especially on Fridays. Cars on most of our roads are visibly sporting the national flag with pride and we are also pleased to see millions of school children wearing the Bafana Bafana shirts and learning the diski dance in their school yards.

It is against this background that Cabinet also decided to support the hosting of the World Cup kick-off concert, which is scheduled for the 10 June 2010 at Orlando stadium in Soweto. The call to boycott the concert by some artists is ill advised as more artists have been included among those performing from South Africa and the African continent. Cabinet calls on the parties to sort out all the outstanding issues without resorting to media statements that would undermine the positive mood that South Africans are already experiencing.

Although schools will be closed for a period of five weeks during the duration of the World Cup to reduce congestion on the roads, government reassures the public, particularly the parents that the number of school days will not be lost. Schools opened a week early at the beginning of the school year to compensate for the extended winter break during the World Cup. Schools have been encouraged to run special educational programmes during holidays, especially during the match free days to ensure that learners, particularly matriculants, do not lose the learning momentum.

Following reports of possible attacks on foreign nationals after the World Cup, Cabinet decided to re-establish the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to focus and deal with incidents and threats of attacks on foreign nationals. The IMC will be convened by the Minister of Police and will include the Ministers of Home Affairs, Social Development, State Security, Basic Education, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Arts and Culture as well as International Relations and Cooperation.

The IMC will liaise with civil society structures to ensure that a country-wide approach is adopted to prevent any form of violence against anyone. Government would like to re-iterate that any attacks are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The law enforcement agencies will not hesitate to act speedily and decisively against anyone found to incite or participate in violent acts against foreign nationals.

Government has planned a host of events in the run up to the football spectacle. Deputy President and Acting President, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe will receive the FIFA World Cup Trophy from Mr Sepp Blatter at the Union Buildings on Friday morning ahead of the last meeting of the 2010 Inter-Ministerial Committee before the start of the Tournament.

The Presidency will also host a 'Football Friday' event at the Union Buildings to mark the culmination of the successful campaign to mobilize the nation to support Bafana Bafana and to become excellent hosts during the World Cup. Ministers, Deputy Ministers and LOC dignitaries will participate in football matches at the Union Buildings as part of the celebrations for the hosting of what promises to be the best World Cup ever.

President Jacob Zuma will host a joint pre-kick off media briefing with Mr Sepp Blatter at the Presidential guesthouse in Pretoria on Sunday morning. The Department of Sport and Recreation will host a dinner to officially welcome all the dignitaries from around the world who will be attending world Cup.

Special measures have also been put in place to ensure that children and women are protected from violence and abuse during the FIFA tournament. These measures include: arts and culture activities; safety awareness in schools; and 21 sports festivals in various parts of the country supported by UNESCO. In addition, Social workers will be deployed in all the public viewing areas and in host cities to monitor and deal with cases of abuse of any kind.

Government has also partnered with CNN, Fortune 500 magazine, Time as well as Sports Illustrated magazine to host the prestigious Global Leaders Forum in Cape Town from 26-28 June 2010. At least 100 business and community leaders, together with a number of Ministers from around the world will participate in the forum.

GCIS has established a 24 hour Operations Room to manage all government communications during the course of the World Cup. This Ops Room will liaise with FIFA and the LOC to ensure that there is sufficient and prompt communication during the tournament. The government spokesman will lead government communications during this period.

Cabinet congratulates the management of the Blue Bulls Rugby team for winning the Super 14 tournament and more importantly, for their unprecedented and admirable step of taking the Super 14 semi final and final to Soweto. This move will go a long way towards taking the nation closer to non-racial sport and nation building. Sport is a true nation builder and Cabinet would like to encourage all sports organizations to follow the good example taken by the Blue Bulls Rugby team.

Cabinet approved the proposal for South Africa to host the inaugural Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting. This meeting, consisting of 300 mandated representatives, will consider trends and modus operandi for global money laundering and terror financing.

The following bills were approved for submission to Parliament:

• Higher Education Laws Amendment Bill.
• Higher Education and Training Laws Amendment Bill.
• Skills Development Levies Amendment Bill.
• South African Citizenship Amendment Bill.
• Births and Deaths Registration Amendment Bill.

The following appointments were approved:

• Mr Trevor Ian Balzer was appointed to the post of Chief Operations Officer (Deputy Director-General [DDG] Level) in the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs.
• Ms Jennifer Anne Irish-Qhobosheane was appointed to the post of Secretary of Police (DDG Level) in the Secretariat for Police.
• Ms Lulama Christinah Mbobo was appointed to the post of Deputy Director-General (Corporate Services) in the Department of Higher Education and Training.
• Dr Azwitevhelwi Prins Nevhutalu was appointed to the post of Deputy Director General (Universities) in the Department of Higher Education and Training.
• Mr S Khan was nominated to represent South Africa on the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (ADB) for a period of three years.
• The following persons were appointed as members of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) board for a period of four years with effect 1 June 2010 until 31 May 2014: Mr M Magugumela (Chairperson); Mr L Annamalai; Dr EJO Gavin; Mr VC Gore; Ms J Lawrence; Mr P Maine; Capt MD Mamashela; Dr LA McKinell; Ms L Mogudi; Mr T Ratsheko; Dr RJ Scholes; Ms R Sekese; Ms VB Titi and Mr M Zondi.

Enquiries: Themba Maseko
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Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
3 June 2010