Halala KwaZakhele High School, halala! – NMBM

It was a jovial celebration on Thursday, 18 August 2022, when the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality visited KwaZakhele High School to celebrate and congratulate the school’s netball team that won the DStv Schools Netball Challenge last week in Gauteng.

The team was crowned the National Ubuntu winners after beating other teams from across the country who were playing for the same title on 9 August 2022.

Mayoral Committee Member for NMBM Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Cllr Bassie Kamana said the City was very proud of the excellent performance shown by the young girls as it proves that young people are still interested in sport.

“You have reminded us that even though the journey to success may not be easy, the fruits of success are sweeter that the hardships we may encounter along the way. We are proud of you and we have brought you training equipment today to encourage you to do more. We have seen the circumstances you are training under, with limited resources and we believe given the right support you can achieve more,” said Cllr Kamana.

To support the team, the City handed over training equipment including balls, bibs and cones.

Netball team coach, Nontobeko Matyu-Ngqeshe said the donation would go a long way as the team needed equipment and developed fields to train and play in.

“We are grateful for the donation, it’s really something we needed. There are no sports fields for our children to play but despite all of that, our girls did it. The win has certainly given us new energy to fly high, it has given us a confidence boost to know that we can also succeed,” she said.

Hundreds of pupils joined in celebrating their peers with song and dance. 

Team captain, Anathi Funde, encouraged more girls to take part in sport . “Playing netball has opened my eyes to so many opportunities, I have enjoyed travelling the province and the country just by playing netball. I am happy we are being celebrated today and want to encourage other girls to play any sport, even if it not netball, as there are many opportunities we can tap into through our involvement in sport,” said the 18-year-old.