By Nangamso Mabindla
19 September 2005

SPORTS clubs in Ward 12 were given sporting equipment by Buffalo City Municipality on Saturday, 17 September.

The R21 000 used to buy the equipment was part of the City's prize money for winning the national Vuna Award in 2003.

Councillor Luntu Bobo said the City had identified sports as one of the areas that needed to gain from the money.

Some of the members of the different sports clubs

Equipment was handed over to soccer, rugby and netball clubs in the five areas that make up Ward 12 - Tyutyu, Qalashe, Siyathemba, EconValley and Bhisho.

"We identified local clubs from the five areas and looked at their sporting needs before deciding to buy them this equipment," Bobo said. "We bought sports gear, 10 soccer balls, rugby balls and netballs."

He said the City would monitor how the equipment was used so that the project became sustainable.

"We have agreed on a sports board that will ensure the proper use of this equipment; we don't want this idea to fail. We want these youngsters to benefit from and make full use of this sporting equipment."

However, handing over the equipment was just the start of things to come, as the City aimed to encourage young people to get involved in community-building projects.

"We also want this board to work with councillors and our young people to develop a strategy for our youth in Ward 12. This strategy should focus on developing our youth in matters of tourism and skills development, and assist them with matters of unemployment, involvement with HIV/Aids and other community issues," Bobo said.

The strategy needed to be developed within the broader framework of the recently launched Buffalo City Youth Strategy.

That plan aims to empower youngsters to become more involved in developmental local government affairs and the decisions that affect them.

It also has a focus on HIV/Aids and aims to minimise the rate of new HIV infections among the city's young people.