MINISTER MARAIS PRESENTED R2.6M NETBALL FACILITY FUNDING TO MUNICIPALITIES
As we gear up to host the 2023 Netball World Cup in the Western Cape, Minister Anroux Marais officially presented ceremonial cheques to municipalities to upgrade netball facilities in their respective regions.
Through the multiple engagements with the Western Cape Netball Federation to discuss the state and usage of netball facilities within the Western Cape, the following facilities will be upgraded to contribute to the Netball World Cup 2023 Legacy project and these cheque handovers signify the funding allocated for the 2020/21 financial year:
- In the Garden Route, to upgrade the Riversdale Stadium, the Hessequa Municipality will receive R600 000
- The Knysna Municipality will also receive R600 000 to upgrade the Karatara sport facility
- The Overberg District’s Swellendam Municipality will receive R600 000 to upgrade the Powell and Kelly Sportsground and
- The Cape Agulhas Municipality will receive R800 000 to improve, amongst others, the lighting and surface of the Bredasdorp facility.
At the ceremonial cheque handover, Minister Marais said, “As we safely move forward in the sector, the provisioning and upgrading of key facilities are critical components of sports development in the Western Cape, the greater South Africa and the world at large. Sport facility provisioning and upgrades create an enabling environment for local, district, regional, provincial, national and even international sports events to take place with the aim of developing sporting talent at different levels as we now navigate to and through our new norm in the sector.
We wholeheartedly thank our valued stakeholders in WP Netball, Netball South Africa and various municipalities for collaboratively assisting us in realising our mission to encourage excellence and inclusiveness in sport through the effective, efficient and sustainable use of our resources. Together, I look forward to promoting accessible participation in sport and recreational activities for all, while optimizing on the legacy projects that the 2023 Netball World Cup will afford. In this way, the code of netball can flourish in terms of safe mass participation, skills development and talent identification to perform at higher levels of excellence”.
Together with the National Deputy Minister of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, Ms. Nocawe Mafu, Minister Anroux Marais will also handover the newly upgraded netball facility at Stephen Reagan Sport Field in Mitchell’s Plain to the City of Cape Town tomorrow.
It is hoped that each municipality takes ownership of these gems to the communities as they are invaluable assets to the enrichment of the livelihoods of all who will use them for constructive development of not only the physical being but for the social integration of all.
