The Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr. Fikile Mbalula has issued a clarion call to all stakeholders and interest groups to convene the Provincial Boxing Indaba that will culminate in a National Boxing Indaba at the end of September 2013.
The Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation will host the Free State Indaba in accordance with the call from the minister.
The primary objective of the Provincial Indaba and National Indaba is to conduct a diagnostic analysis on the status of boxing in South Africa and develop a turn-around strategy for the success of boxing going forward.
The minister resolved on the need to convene a Boxing Indaba after several concerns and challenges were lodged with the ministry.
The concerns and challenges range from the lack of support systems for active and retired boxers, insufficient talent development plans and career pathing for boxers, managers and trainers, lack of a commercially and financially viable business model for boxing South Africa, to the lack of articulation between professional and amateur boxing at structural and inter-phase levels and spheres.
The Indaba is therefore convened to conduct a frank but constructive consultative process and dialogue throughout the boxing fraternity. The outcome must transform boxing for good and for the better.
The Free State province is one of the leading provinces on the front of boxing development, with the establishment of our High Performance Center for Boxing as well as the Local Talent Development Centre (LTDC) and District High Performance Centres (DHPC) that has already produced world class competitive athletes like the18-year-old boxer from Thabong (Welkom), Lerato Dlamini, who won a gold medal during the bi-annual Zone VI games in Lusaka in December 2012.
Dlamini became the newly crowned zone VI champion in the lightweight division following his intensive training at one of the department’s LTDC and DHPC located in Thabong.
The Free State Provincial Boxing Indaba will be hosted as follows:
Date : 31 August 2013
Time : 08:30
Venue : President Hotel, Bloemfontein
Your media house is invited to cover the event.
Media enquiries:
General Enquiries
Tankiso Zola Struben Mathumbu, Manager: Communication and IT Manager: Sport & Talent Development
Cell: 082 940 2392, 082 342 0001
Tel: 051 410 4742 / 051 410 4786 / 051 410 4719, 051 407 3500
Email: tankiso@sacr.fs.gov.za or struben@sacr.fs.gov.za.
