The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in association with Mpumalanga Province and Thaba Chweu Local Municipality will this Friday (09 April 2021), handover a multipurpose sport facility and equipment to the community of Thaba Chweu and surrounding areas. In keeping with the Department mandate of creating an enabling environment, the handover is done to ensure that South Africans remain physically active and have access to sport facilities, especially those living in previously disadvantaged areas. The role of this handover is also to put focus on equitable access, as it remains one of the Department’s primary mandate as highlighted in the EPG Transformation report.

Representing the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture will be Minister Nathi Mthethwa, who will be accompanied by Mpumalanga MEC for Culture, Sport and Recreation, Ms Thandi Shongwe.

Minister Nathi Mthethwa indicated the following in relation to this handover, “In developing cohesive and sustainable nation, we have to ensure that our communities have access to resources, hence this facility will be for the utilisation of both citizens and learners within Thaba Chweu Local Municipality. We further have to ensure that in the long run, such facilities assist in abetting us to rid our communities of lifestyle diseases, in the interest of eliminating obesity and creating champions amongst school going learners. I take this opportunity to applaud all our partners, including The Sports Trust, for the role they continue to play in ensuring that we deliver on our mandate of maintaining a creative winning nation in an enabling environment” - Indicated Minister Nathi Mthethwa.

MEC Shongwe remarked, “As Mpumalanga, we are excited about the handover of the multipurpose centre to the community of Thaba Chweu. As custodians of sport in the province, we will work together with locals to ensure that facility becomes a conveyer belt of the next generation of athletes."
Commenting on the initiative, Anita Mathews, Executive Director, of The Sports Trust added: ‘It is our mandate to increase and create opportunities for all disadvantaged South Africans participating in sport through the provision of kits, equipment and facilities. It gives us great pleasure to work with the National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture as we continue implementing multipurpose sport courts for local schools, so that we can enhance education through sport.

This state-of-the-art facility caters for five sporting codes inclusive of 5 a side soccer (futsal), netball, basketball, tennis and volleyball. This facility has a twenty-year lifespan, fifteen-year warranty and is made up of interlocking tiles that provide lateral forgiveness and minimal impact on the joints of the players. It has also been audited, in line with The Sports Trust’s ‘green’ policy of helping to protect the environment. It warrants less maintenance due to materials used to construct it.

This multipurpose sport facility will create a “sporting hub” and will be accessible to surrounding schools and the community. The Ministerial Outreach Programme continues to handover facilities, coupled with equipment and attire to various communities, giving priority to the previously disadvantaged. These facilities are built to increase access to sport and recreation activities.

The National Sport and Recreation Plan espoused that there is a need for facilities to be built to address injustices of the past and to create access to sport for all South Africans. The facility shall be utilised by schools, hubs and clubs optimally.
______________________________END________________________________
For further clarity:

For more information Contact:
• Mr Mickey Modisane, Head of Communications DSAC
E-mail: mickey@srsa.gov.za Cell : 082 992 0101 Tel: 012 304 5159
• Carol Crawford, Marketing & Communications Manager, The Sports Trust,
E-mail:marketing@sportstrust.co.za, Cell: 082 802 2899 Tel: 011 802 1818
Masechaba Khumalo, Spokesperson (Minister), Cell: 082 858 4415 Email: MasechabaK@dsac.gov.za
• Mr Teddy Ndlazi, Media Relations, Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sport and Rec. tndlazi@mpg.gov.za , Cell 0732819163

ABOUT THE SPORTS TRUST
The Sports Trust is an independent organisation established jointly by the private and public sectors in 1994, and is a registered section 21 company and public benefit organisation and operates as a non-profit organisation, although it carries the name 'trust' to reflect the relationship between donors' funding and the organisation. We provide sporting kit and equipment and build or upgrade sports facilities in disadvantaged rural communities in South Africa, and act as an implementation partner to our Trustees, stakeholders & corporates, in order to enhance education through sport, for continued development and transformation of our youth in sport. www.thesportstrust.co.za Twitter: @SportsTrustSA