Mpumalanga panners take national titles
DCSR hosted the national championships in Pilgrims Rest last week.
Gold panners from Mpumalanga continue to dominate in the fun sport.
This year the province had the opportunity to host the 2015 National Gold Panning Championships in Mpumalanga’s most famous-for-gold town, Pilgrims Rest.
The three-day event kicked off with a street parade featuring all the participants and the cancan girls from Uptown.
It culminated at the panning site where the MEC for culture, sports and recreation Ms Norah Mahlangu-Mabena officially opened the championship.
“Gold panning continues to attract tourists from all over the country and the world over,” she said.
“It is an example of how recreational activities can bring people of all races together, thus promoting social cohesion.”
- Read about the national team’s success at the recent world championships here.
Panners Anja Cronjé, Joseph Mashego, Sendra Nsimba, Joseph Mashaka, Karina Labuschagne and Danie Smit were the biggest winners in the finals, which took place on Saturday.
They were crowned national champions in their respective categories: Cronje (junior), Mashego (veterans), Nsimba (proficient ladies), Mashaka (proficient men), Labuschagne (beginner ladies) and Smit (beginner men).
They will now represent South Africa at next year’s World Gold Panning Championship in the United States.
“We congratulate all the winners for making this year’s tournament competitive,” the organisers, the Mpumalanga DCSR said through spokesman Ms Sibongile Nkosi.
“Now they have an opportunity to take their A games to the world stage.”
The other category winners are:
• Mpumalanga Mac Mac – provincial team
• Paballo Nyalunga – pikkies·
• Jaydon Steyn – children
• Sonja Vermaak – jokers·
• Goodness Mashego – traditional pan
• John Deere – two-person team
• SSJ – three-person team
• The Five Girlies – five-person team.
