Municipal employees are heading to Lesotho this year to partake in the Southern African Inter-Municipal Sports Association Employees Physical Wellness Programme in September.

Inter-Municipal Sports of Southern Africa is an international association consisting of SADC countries, including Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and Swaziland.

Municipalities from the above countries participate annually in the games.

Altogether 56 municipalities received invitations for the games this year.

An expected 4 500 participants will partake in the games from September 21 to 26.

Employees of Steve Tshwete Municipality have indicated that they would like to take part in soccer, netball, volleyball, table tennis, lawn tennis, pool, darts, tug-of-war, cricket, and fishing.

The STLM Employee Wellness Club has applied for R400 000 in municipal funding in order to take part.

The tally includes transportation and accommodation fees.

Apart from the money, employees have also requested special leave.

A national physical wellness policy was adopted in 2013, giving Municipal Manager Mandla Mnguni discretion to decide on investment benefits towards employee wellness.

Employees say that sending them would mend the relations damaged between them and the municipality during the 2022 municipal strikes.

There’s an increased focus on physical wellness in municipalities due to a direct correlation between wellness and productivity.

Employees, in the request, refer to themselves as the lifeblood of the municipality.

During last year’s games, the municipality received silver medals for participation in cricket, table tennis, a 10km marathon, and bronze medals for tug-of-war, volleyball, soccer (over 40 years), and table tennis.

Council approved a R150 000 contribution towards transport and accommodation.

Employees have also been encouraged to contribute more club fees personally, in order to attend future events.