Mpumalanga hold heads high in indigenous games
Team Mpumalanga finished overall third in the board game incuva.
PRETORIA – Team Mpumalanga performed admirably at this year’s Indigenous Games Festival and was unlucky not to break into the top three in the final standings. The ninth edition of the annual games was held in Pretoria from Saturday until Heritage Day earlier this week. All nine provinces participated.
For a while it seemed as though Mpumalanga would upset the favourites, such as KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and North West, but in the end it was not to be as they ran out of steam.
However, the team was third in incuva (board game), ended overall fourth in dibeke (running game), diketo (coordination game) and morabaraba (board game). The province also placed fifth in kgathi (rope-jumping) and intonga (stick fighting) and finished eighth in khokho (running game) as well as professional and development jukskei.
The games are played under the Siyadlala Mass Participation Programme which is aimed at promoting cultural activities with a particular appeal to vast sectors of the South African community. These also play a pivotal role in promoting national unity and social cohesion.
“We came here with one objective – to dethrone KwaZulu-Natal and it goes without saying that we are disappointed that we could not achieve it,” the department of culture, sport and recreation said in a statement. “We will go back home and work on new tactics to win the tournament next year.”
Read more here.
