19 Jul 2017

Assistant Minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Thato Kwerepe has implored the youth to engage in sporting activities as it will mould and turn them into responsible individuals.

The minister, who was speaking during the Qcwihaba Challenge 2017 organised by the Office of the President on Monday, advised the youth to channel their energy into sports instead of engaging in wayward behaviour that could destroy their future.

Kwerepe said instead of committing crime and terrorising the community, it was important for the youth to invest their time in sports as it would not only assist them to maintain a healthy body, but also bring food on their table. “Youth who participate in sports develop physical fitness in a way that is fun, and they establish lifelong habits for good health,” Kwerepe explained.

He further observed that youth who commit to sports were bound by a moral obligation to show up, cooperate and try their best.

Meanwhile, multitudes of young people from Qcwihaba, Qangwa, Xaixai and Magopa participated in the challenge which was coordinated by the deputy senior private secretary to the President, Tuelo Moloko.

Moloko, who is also the coordinator of the Qcwihaba project, said the idea of organising the extravaganza was born after realising that they spent too much time engaged in the project in Qcwihaba. The Qcwihaba project team is tasked with discovering more caves for tourism purposes.

“We spend two months here and go back to our work places for a month and come back for another two months,” said Moloko who further explained that they initially decided to organise a football tournament for the four villages of Qcwihaba, Qangwa, Xaixai and Magopa during the Easter holidays.

He said people embraced the tournament, and that they also realised that the Easter holidays were long and people from the villages were bored and entertained themselves by indulging in traditionally brewed concoctions.

For the Presidential holidays, he said they decided to make the games bigger and better by including other codes such as volleyball, athletics and other games such as sack and egg race. He added that they managed to source P24 000 from donors for the challenge.

Kgosi Nxuka Ishee of Xaixai commended Moloko and his project colleagues for organising the games. She said people in her village usually abused alcohol and participated in crime during the long holidays.

“I would be happy if these games can be an annual event so that my people can have something to look for every year,” she said.BOPA