29 Dec 2016

Goledzwa football tournament at Tutume village is one of the festive entertainments that have become a household name.

It will be a mistake for the diehard fans of the tournament to talk about the festive holidays at Tutume and not mention the Goledzwa football tournament. Since its inception in 2009, to some it is a means to keep busy and refrain from unruly practices, while others perceive it as a re-union activity especially that they hardly meet during the year.

In an interview with publicity secretary of organising committee of Goledzwa football tournament, Christopher Nyanga, he explained that the activity started in 2009 with the intention of coming up with some entertainment means during the festive holidays.

Nyanga said though the tournament started off relatively small, it has grown and more activities that enhance its existence continue to be added.
“This tournament started off relatively small with a sponsorship of about P5 000 that we solicited from the teams that had to participate,” he said.

He said 2013 and 2014 was the turning point as more local companies and individuals showed interest in sponsoring and assisting in any kind towards the success of the tournament.

The turning point brought along more activities such as engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) activities in the village, the beauty pageant dubbed Miss Goledzwa Football Tournament which has also become an annual event.

“We had 12 participants for the pageant and the grand prize was P1500, while the first and second princesses received P1200 and P1000 respectively and consolation prizes was P400 for the nine other contestants,” he said.

He said the committee prides its self with five full time sponsors, being Dupa Enterprise Corporation as the main sponsor, Eagle Cliff Holdings PTY (Ltd), as well as Ketan Enterprise Corporation and Ndadi Law Firm and this year’s sponsorship for all the activities amounted to P120 000.

Nyanga said currently he tournament has six participating football teams from Thini, Selolwane, Madikwe and Magapatona wards and the grand prize amount to P16 000,  while the lowest performing team will receive P8 000 .

Some of the corporate social responsibility activities that came along as a result of the Goledzwa football tournament include monetary donations at different entities within the village.

 Nyanga said since 2013 to date, a total of P10 000 has been donated to the construction of the shelter built on voluntary basis at the village main kgotla.

He also said they have donated P1 000 to each of the the four main wards within the village to assist in the country’s golden jubilee independence celebrations.

Moreover, he said for the past four years, they have spent P8 000 on gifts and food hampers given to Tutume Primary Hospital admitted patients as Christmas gifts.

“Every festive holidays we visit patients at the hospital to spend time with them, give out gifts to show love and compassion,” he said.
Other donations includes a photo copier at Thini primary school and this year they fenced the play grounds of the same primary school at an amount of P20 000.

He said Goledzwa football tournament has only contributed to the developments of Tutume, but has also produced some players who participate in higher football division teams as well as national level.ENDS