By: Lungisa Somtombo
The Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture hosted a media briefing today for the upcoming 22nd annual Eastern Cape Sport and Recreation Achievers Awards which will be held on the 30th of August at East London International Convention Centre.
Addressing the media DSRAC MEC Fezeka Bayeni said it is that time of the year where the department and sport fraternities honour and recognise excellence in terms of sport in the Eastern Cape.
MEC said traditionally these awards would be in Port Elizabeth, but this year they will be in East London. Explaining the reason for this, she said politically, events that have a potential of growing local economy cannot be held in one place every time as people from other districts need to feel like they are part of the province as well.
“The awards have 25 categories and the department received a record of 115 nominations. These categories include a volunteer of the year award to honour people who have made a contribution in their communities,” said Bayeni.
According to Bayeni the reason for these awards is to celebrate people’s achievements, to acknowledge their hard work and to thank them for flying the province’s flag nationally and internationally. She added that this also encourages those that did not receive an award to work harder to also be nominated next time.
Explaining how players get nominated, Eastern Cape Sport Confederation President Mkhululi Magada said there are sports federations that record players achievements wherever they play. They then look for players with the most achievements and nominate them for a certain category.
Nominated for the volunteer of the year award, Eastern Cape Handball Association Secretary Zizo Phathu said she is still yet to find the right words to express how she feels about the nomination as being recognized for something that she has a passion for means a lot to her.
“This gives me motivation to work even harder and after all the effort I invested in my work, I think I have the potential to win but being nominated is the best achievement,” she said.