17 Jul 2013

Ngamiland community have commended the Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) for reviving horse racing in their area. The residents commended the union during the horse racing event at Sakaumba farm, a few kilometres from Maun over the weekend.

They welcomed the initiative noting that it would give locals an opportunity to fully participate and make ends meet. One of the horse owners, Philip Wright said the initiative was a good one as most of the locals were denied the opportunity to participate in the annual Mascom Horse Race Derby because of the breed they kept.

“This race is different from the Mascom one as it targets local communities unlike in the Mascom derby which is international”, he added. Wright said the race would benefit the community as horses which did not compete in the Mascom derby were participating.

He said horse racing was an equestrian sport that had a long history in Ngamiland. He expressed hope that next year, it would be well organised as most locals would get prepared.

Bernard Mainge, also a resident, noted that they managed to bring their horses to compete unlike in the Mascom derby where they failed to take part because they could not match foreigners. He said BOPEU had come up with a good initiative to cater for the locals and hoped that most of horse owners would be encouraged to participate.

However, the racing was dominated by Tswana and Thorough breeds and was divided into six categories. Gaitsiwe Bonang's horse, Teaspon from Toteng emerged the BOPEU grand champion in the 200 metres race. Frenchtime owned by Philip Wirght got position two while Spanish Richmon owned by Ntshenogang Gaboekae got position three.

In the 800 metres race, Bullet from Kareng got position one while BoyBoy from Maun and Homeland from Kareng got positions two and three respectively.

Bonang who walked away with P12 000 for 200m and 800 metres race said it was not his first time to compete noting that he tried his luck in the Mascom Horse Race but was defeated. He said he worked on his mistakes as he realised that his horse had no stamina and did not have proper training.

“This time I came here prepared and I trusted my horse that it will make me proud”, he added. BOPEU Maun regional chairperson,Tambona Jopi said their plan was to make the event an annual one.

He said the main objective of the race was to interact with the community they worked within so that they could appreciate their union and its activities. “We want to work hand in hand with the communities to uplift their living standards,” he said.

Jopi said the vent was a community building endeavour as they also targeted small entrepreneurs to participate with an aim to promote and sell their services and products. He said the union was concerned with poverty among the communities and they had taken a stand to augment government efforts to eradicate poverty.

 Although the fundraising event was not well advertised, Jopi hoped for the best next year. He said part of the proceeds would be donated to Motse-wa- Tsholofelo, a pre-school for orphans which would get 10 per cent of the proceeds.

The event was sponsored by BancABC to the tune of P100 000 with Metropolitan and Babereki Investments as co-sponsors.ENDS