Manguzi man to run two Comrades in two days

Manguzi-born endurance runner Kwanda Sibiya will this weekend take on a double Comrades Marathon in aid of his charity foundation.

Sibiya (32) has undertaken this challenge for the last two years; his mission to raise funds for his foundation which supports two schoolchildren in his hometown, to further their education.

“These children lost their mother to Covid-19 and their father is unemployed. They are the third generation of this family without matric,” said Sibiya.

“We want to assist them until they pass their matric. One girl is presently in Grade 2 and the boy is doing Grade 1 at John Wesley Kosi Bay Combined Private School. We pay their school fees, transport, and food,” he said.

Sibiya, a senior manager at Hilton College in Pietermaritzburg, said he will tackle his up-run from Kingsmead Stadium in Durban and run to Pietermaritzburg Town Hall on Saturday, and compete with the other thousands of Comrades runners from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on Sunday.

“I want to make the impossible possible. There is a great need for education in Manguzi; we are currently collecting books for our corner library, as we have embarked on a reading campaign at one of the schools, and we want to expand it to the whole of Manguzi for all rural children to benefit.

“We understand that reading books can help them a lot to enhance their learning. When I grew up, I did not have a chance to read. We are also planning to host a career in kwaNgwanase to educate local children about various career paths,” he said.

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