• Thabile Mange writes:
During the past dark era, the apartheid government divided blacks along tribal lines, deliberately so. In the townships, sections were divided into Nguni and Tswana. Schools were also divided along tribal lines: Tswana, Nguni and Tsonga. Sad.
That said, one of the things that unified the black nation was sport, especially soccer. Blacks used to attend soccer matches at stadiums such as Orlando Stadium, Soweto, in numbers. When they were at the stadium, they forgot about their tribal differences and viewed each other as soccer fans, if not human beings.
In 1995, former president Nelson Mandela (may his revolutionary spirit rest in peace) used sport to unite the divided nation. Mandela supported the national rugby team, popularly known as Amabhokobhoko. There is even a movie based on that. As fate would have it, the rugby team won the World Cup in the same year. That united the nation.
On Sunday, June 14, I witnessed sport uniting the citizens of Kagiso. The sport I’m referring to is a fun run, which was organised by Tshepang Lesifa, Phumzile Manzini (both live in Pretoria and originate from Kagiso) and Sammy Putu – they are all marathon runners. The area’s residents were fully behind the marathon.
Lesifa and Manzini ran from the Union Buildings in Pretoria to Kagiso. That is 90km. There were different races: i.e. 45km, 21km and 10km. Residents (including myself) volunteered and helped at various water points. All in the name of charity.
The finishing line was at Tso’s Butchery in Kagiso. Everyone, young and old, was there to welcome the runners. When Lesifa and Manzini arrived at the finishing line, there was so much happiness and jubilation. Some residents cried tears of joy. I have never seen such before.
The idea of a fun run was hatched on Facebook. Lesiba challenged local runners to do a 90km run: from the Union Buildings to Kagiso. As they say, the rest is history. Talk about the power of social media. For the first time such a thing happened in Kagiso.
Local business sponsored the marathon. One can mention Tso’s Butchery, The Joint, Leratong Tavern, Lungi Ndou Events, Vedoo, Westside FM, Dida Dipheko and many others. I hope and pray that this will be an annual event. And that more sponsors will come to the party and support this noble initiative.
