MEC Shongwe pays homage to Covid-19 victims

The Mpumalanga MEC for the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, Thandi Shongwe, has paid homage to all the gold panning players who had lost their lives to Covid-19.

In honouring these fallen sporting personalities, Shongwe made a call to all gold panning players to go and be vaccinated in order to defeat and stop the spread of this virus.

“As we officially declare the 2021 Gold Panning Games opened, we must always remember those who entertained us all those years and have now succumbed to this pandemic. We must honour their spirit and contribution to this sport by going out in our numbers and being vaccinated so that we can defeat this killer virus. As we lit the candles today, let us pray for all those who are sick and those who have already lost the battle to Covid-19,” said Shongwe.

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She was speaking during the official opening of the annual Gold Panning Games held in Pilgrim’s Rest on Thursday October 7. The games are continuing and will come to an end on Saturday October 9.

Shongwe also urged the participants to pull up their socks, since this country has been awarded the rights to host the 2023 Gold Panning World Cup games.

“We need to make this sport popular among our people. We need to see many local players take part,” she said.