South African Masters Athletics has the privilege of hosting the 14th African Masters Athletics Championship (Open) this year.

The responsibility for presenting the event has been assigned to the Masters Athletics Association of Gauteng North, which obviously wants to present it on the new track in the Pilditch stadium. The event is supposed to be held at Pilditch next weekend, from 16 to 18 November.

The fact that it is an open championship means that Masters athletes (35 years and older) from all over the world will travel to Pretoria to take part in the event.

Although all the usual logistical arrangements have been completed, one headache remains for the organizers of this international spectacle.

Although the Tshwane Metro announced on Friday that the three months long strike, which paralyzed service delivery in the city, is officially over, it is doubtful whether streets and public places will be cleared and cleaned very soon or whether overdue maintenance will be sorted out.

For this reason, the organizers of the 14th African Masters Athletics Championship decided to step in themselves and clean up the area around the Pilditch stadium, which according to witnesses had suffered badly due to the lack of garbage disposal and the maintenance of sidewalks, etc. during the strike.

The organizers of the event have already found a small group of volunteers willing to help. However, the proverb says “many hands make light work” and therefore the organizers of the 14th African Masters Athletics Championship have made an urgent appeal to any available volunteers who would like to help, to come forward.

A huge cleaning operation will be carried out on Sunday morning (November 12) at the Pilditch stadium and in the streets around the stadium.

This must be done to spare South Africa’s masters athletes – and athletics in South Africa in general – the embarrassment of a scenario where international participants will be confronted by a dirty, untidy, stadium and surroundings around Pilditch when the African Masters Athletics Championship starts next Thursday.

Each volunteer is requested to bring a roll of black garbage bags and their own gloves. If there are volunteers who have equipment to cut grass around sidewalks or industrial brooms to sweep clean, they are welcome to bring them as well.

The cleaning operation will start at 08:30 Sunday morning and volunteers are requested to gather at the stadium.

For any further enquiries, call Maaike Hunter on 082-656-2711.

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