The Western Cape Provincial Sport Confederation (WCPSC) and the Western Cape Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Anroux Marais, are serious about women in sport and the minister has prioritised the agenda of women in sport (WIS) for her second term in office.
Through the district sport councils, workshops on the proposed WIS Provincial Action Plan have already been held in the Cape Town and Overberg districts, with the remaining regions scheduled for the coming months.
JP Naude, president of the WCPSC, has been included in a working group identified to execute the minister’s vision and bring to bring the WIS Provincial Plan of Action, conference and policy development into fruition. Sunette Marais, our WIS chairperson, also serves on the working group.
JP said our organisation is 100% behind this initiative and will fully co-operate with the Minister. Sunette briefed representatives at the WCPSC’s General Council Meeting held on Saturday 15 February 2020 in Cape Town about the latest developments regarding the action plan.
She said more should be done to get more women involved in sport, not only as participants, but also as administrators. She asked: why don’t we grow the numbers of women in sport? If their safety is a problem, what can we do to solve that problem? How can we make them feel safe when they visit the stadia or places where they practice their sport?
Sunette said somebody should take responsibility for the safety of women and girls in sport. Who should be held responsible? Can’t municipalities be held responsible? Is it not their responsibility? Girls get raped and abducted at night and that plays a role in them not playing sport.
It is not about men who should be put in their place. We just want to get to equal terms with men. We need more female coaches – if you look at the current situation you will see how many male coaches coach female sport teams, she elaborated.
Sunette is of the opinion that in most instances male coaches are not equipped to handle the issues of girls who today don’t feel okay and tomorrow they are better. But she is excited about the Minister’s plans and was looking forward to – with the other role players – levelling the playing field over the next year or so.
A WIS conference will be held on 8/9 August 2020
