Department of Sport and Recreation SA with the Sports Trust celebrate “Africa Month” by utilising the Minister’s budget vote outreach programme to hand over a sport facility in Atlantis
This Africa Month, Department of Sports and Recreation South Africa, in conjunction with The Sports Trust continues to deliver on its mandate of addressing the past imbalances created by the legacy of apartheid in relation to lack of sport facilities in previously disadvantages schools.
This month of May as we continue to celebrate Africa Month and as we acknowledge and welcome the New Minister of Sport and Recreation South Africa, Minister TW Nxesi. The Department of Sport and Recreation SA in partnership with The Sports Trust will hand over a new sports facility in the Western Cape. In line with the Department Strategic Objectives as it resonates with the Government Medium Term Strategic Framework, the Department in continuing to bridge the gap of building sports facilities and further ensuring that all South Africans have access to sport facilities, will this time around unveil and handover another sport facility at Reygersdal Primary School.
Minister TW Nxesi and various dignitaries will hand over another state of the art multipurpose sport court.
This state of the art facility that Department of Sport and Recreation will be handing over to the community, caters for five sporting codes inclusive of 5 a side soccer (futsal), netball, basketball, tennis and volleyball. This facility has a twenty year lifespan, fifteen year warranty and made up of interlocking tiles that provide lateral forgiveness and minimal impact on the joints of the players. It has also been audited and verified as “Zero Waste” and environmentally friendly, which is in line with the Sports Trust’s ‘green’ policy of helping to protect the environment.
Information about Reygersdal Primary School.
The School Motto is ‘Knowledge is Light’, and the Principal is Mr Danny Pietersen who has been in charge of the school for the past 20 years. The school caters for 1118 learners with 30 dedicated educators. The following sporting codes are played, Rugby, Netball, Soccer, Ring ball, Cricket, Athletics, Chess, Cross Country including the following cultural activities, Folk-dance, Choir, Spelling Competitions and Drama.
Reygersdal has also experienced the following sporting achievements, U13 team has won the cricket school league and two of its athletes have currently been selected for Western Province provincial team for both U12 and U13 respectively.
The school has an inter-school arrangement with Florida Laerskool where learners who achieve in sport are offered a bursary to go and study at Florida Laerskool and continues focusing on exceling in sport and their education.
The school has produced Sportsmen like Duncan Mathews, who currently plays for the Blue Bulls, and was the ex-Head Boy. He recently played in the rugby “curtain opener” at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg this past Saturday 20th May 2017, and is currently playing in the Super Rugby series.
This Sport Court will be utilised every day until 7pm at night, and will also be open for use by the children who are currently practising and playing in the school league games. The community as well also make use of the sport court and guard it against vandalism and malicious utilisation.
Though this community faces challenges of poverty, gangsters and unemployment, this facility will be utilised as the platform to foster nation building and social cohesion therefore, resonating very well with the strategic intentions of the Department of Sport and Recreation.
“In my opening comments upon my arrival, I have been very audible about sports development and the roll out of sport facilities in bridging the gap of what was created by the legacy of apartheid. This facility handover clearly demonstrates that from what the department has managed to do in the past by ensuring such handovers, my Department is steadily working on bridging this gap of lack of sport facilities. This structure is going to empower our youth by ensuring that they remain occupied on matters of sport activities and avoid being associated with mischief. This facility will further assist the community in removing our youth off the streets and ensure that my Department’s vision on an active winning nation, is acknowledged’ – Minister TW Nxesi.
Commenting on the initiative, Jackie Mathebula, Chairman of Sports Trust said the following:
“These facilities continue to provide opportunities and positive outcomes for our youth who participate in sport. We must credit the Principal, Danny Pietersen, and his staff for their commitment and dedication helping to shape our sports stars of tomorrow through their various programmes and initiatives that they support.”
Venue: Reygersdal Primary School, Atlantis
Date: 25 May 2017
Time: 12:00
For more information Contact:
Sabelo Mali
Cell: 082 729 5804
Email: sabelo@srsa.gov.za
Mr Mickey Modisane
Tel: 012 304 5159
Cell: 082 992 0101
E-mail: mickey@srsa.gov.za
Twitter: @SPORTandREC_RSA
Carol Crawford
Tel: 011 802 1818
Cell: 082 802 2899
Email:marketing@sportstrust.co.za
Twitter: @SportsTrustSA
About the Sports front
The Sports Trust is an independent organisation established jointly by the private and public sectors in 1994, and is a registered section 21 company and public benefit organisation and operates as an non-profit organisation, although it carries the name 'trust' to reflect the relationship between donors' funding and the organisation. We provide sporting kit and equipment and build or upgrade sports facilities in disadvantaged rural communities in South Africa, and act as an implementation partner to our Trustees, stakeholders & corporates, in order to enhance education through sport, for continued development and transformation of our youth in sport. www.thesportstrust.co.za Twitter: @SportsTrustSA
