MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

SA Rugby celebrate #MandelaDay

By

Son of Port Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela Bay and Springbok Captain Siya Kolisi along with Damian de Allende, Eben Etzebeth and Sikhumbuzo Notshe visited the Parklands High School.

Members of the Springbok training squad and Springbok Sevens Women players rolled up their sleeves on Wednesday to contribute towards several charity projects in celebration of #MandelaDay.

As part of SA Rugby’s outreach programme and in conjunction with Springbok sponsors MTN, the players also delivered blankets to each of the different venues.

Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Coenie Oosthuizen, Wilco Louw and Trevor Nyakane as well as several SA Rugby staff members kicked off the day’s activities with a visit to the Kin Culture orphanage in Klapmuts on the outskirts of Paarl in the Western Cape.

The group participated in a prayer session and spent quality time with some of the children, staff members and volunteers of the care village.

Then it was off to the township of Mfuleni outside Stellenbosch, where they met up with a few other members of the Springbok training group and Springbok Sevens Women representatives – Embrose Papier, Salmaan Moerat and Damian Willemse, as well as Veroeshka Grain, Megan Comley and Chane Stadler – to give a helping hand at a Habitat for Humanity building project.

The players joined up with several other volunteer groups who are building three houses in support of initiatives of the Nelson Mandela Foundation in partnership with Habitat for Humanity SA and the Department of Human Settlements. Oosthuizen and Nyakane also handed over a batch of blankets to the local primary school.

To honour Madiba’s legacy, 100 homes are being built for 100 families across three provinces – the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Meanwhile across town in Parklands near Milnerton, Springbok captain Siya Kilosi, Eben Etzebeth, Damian de Allende and Sikhumbuzo Notshe visited the local high school. Kolisi delivered a speech on behalf of the group while they also, in an initiative by MTN and Springbok Atlas, handed over a consignment of blankets for distribution to the nearby impoverished communities.

Kolisi described their involvement in the various projects as a humbling experience: “All of us were just so glad and grateful to be involved in these various projects. We hope that, through our presence, we were able to make a meaningful difference and contribution. Madiba’s legacy continues to be an inspiration for all of us,” said Kolisi.

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Flickr profileMy Pinterest profile

Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.