For hundreds of Mthatha residents and sports enthusiasts, yesterday afternoon was a pleasant distraction as an Eastern Cape government motorcade carrying the Netball World Cup Trophy finally rolled into town.
Mthatha’s bustling main road came to a halt as the provincial Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture(DSRAC) convoy, featuring drum majorettes and a packed red double decker bus, went through the city.
This was part of the department’s bid to raise awareness about the upcoming Netball World Cup tournament, to be held in Cape Town from the 28th of July to the 6th of August 2023.
It is the first time the Netball World Cup is being held on African soil and the World Cup Trophy Tour (comprising all nine of South Africa’s provinces) forms part of the build up to Cape Town.
Earlier this week, the DSRAC MEC, Nonceba Kontsiwe officially received the trophy from the Northern Cape Province’s MEC for Sport, Desiree Fennies, in Colesburg.
The trophy will be in the Eastern Cape until the 3rd of July 2023. Its journey started in Burgersdorp and will end at the Khoisan Village, Tsitsikamma.
According to DSRAC spokesperson Andile Nduna, the tour has been planned to follow the Eastern Cape Heritage Trail and each stop will be accompanied by school and club netball matches, including coaching clinics.
Back in Mthatha, Kontsiwe pleaded with the Eastern Cape public to support the tour by wearing World Cup supporter t-shirts.
“We saw it prudent that the trophy visits all districts in the province. That is aligned to our vision for promoting total participation. All this is done to promote the Netball World Cup and that includes the Netball World Cup Fridays campaign of wearing the World Cup t-shirts. Citizens are encouraged to wear their sporting gear or World Cup jerseys every Friday as part of the campaign to support this initiative,” said Kontsiwe.
Among attendees at the event were the Mayor of King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality, Nyaniso Nelani and Cecilia Molokwane, president of Netball South Africa.
Chris Hani is the only Eastern Cape District that has a player in the National Netball squad. Her name is Phumza Maweni.
ARTICLE BY MANDLA ZIBI// EDITED BY CWAYITA ZWENI