Beautiful game supported by community

Zandspruit informal settlement came alive on Sunday, 22 November to witness the final of the hyped Zandspruit Soccer tournament.

Both young and old football fans flocked to the grounds where the final fixture was played between Honeydew Sundowns from Zandspruit, and Kasi Shakers from Cosmo City after emerging supreme against six other opponents in the tournament.

However, the Zandspruit side with home-ground advantage failed to outplay the visitor who thrashed them 3–0, leaving their fans disappointed and hurt.

One of the organisers and sole sponsor of the tournament, David Mangena, the chairperson of the Zandspruit Youth Forum, chatted about the aim of hosting the exciting tournament.

“The aim was to get the community together to enjoy the beautiful game of football while we inspire future footballers from the area,” he said.

The tournament attracted clubs from various areas including Diepsloot, Lion Park and Eskom.

Mangena also said that part of hosting the event was to change the narrative about Zandspruit.

“Remember, Zandspruit only gets attention when there are protests going on, but we wanted to prove that positives also come from this disadvantaged community,” he explained with optimism.

Like any other sporting competition, silverware is usually part and parcel. To ensure that the tournament was memorable, Mangena privately funded the tournament by buying trophies and sporting equipment to reward the winners.

Although he wished for the cup to remain in Zandspruit, this philanthropist was still chuffed for the winners from outside.

“I was expecting the trophy to stay in Zandspruit but the home team did not play well. Anyway, congratulations to the winners and I hope they keep playing wonderful football and winning more accolades,” he said.

As this was the start of many tournaments, Mangena hoped to attract donors to fund this community-driven project.