Culture, Sport and Recreation MEC Thandi Shongwe has congratulated Sanjay Singh on his election as President of World Gold Panning Association (WGPA).

“As a department, we want to congratulate Sanjay Singh on his election as President of the World Gold Panning Association and wish him nothing but success on his tenure. We trust that his election will go a long way in growing the sport in the region. The department will work with him to popularise gold panning,” said MEC Shongwe. Through the sport, the department has managed to foster social cohesion and give locals an opportunity to showcase their gold panning prowess at international level.

I am excited about the new challenge. I will work to ensure that under my presidency the sport grows in leaps and bounds,” said Singh on his election.

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Singh, who is the director of heritage and museum in the department, was elected during the Annual General Meeting of the WGPA in Salamandra Resort in Hodrusa-Hamre, Slovakia recently. The European country hosted this year’s World Gold Panning Championship. The other candidate for the presidency was Frenk Hink of the Nertherlands. Singh replaces Arturo Ramello of Italy, who served the maximum of three terms at the helm of WGPA. Members of the WGPA are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Nerthelands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United States of America. South Africa is the only African country that is a member of the association.

SJ, as he is affectionately known gold panning circles, has been involved in the sport since 1999. He was one of the people who played a leading role in the country hosting two World Championships in 2005 and 2015 at Pilgrim’s Rest. He continues to work tirelessly to grow the sport in the region and this has seen the entry numbers of the national championship growing each year.

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