Search

Author:

Chris Hani Jazz Festival 🗓

Cradock comes alive to the soothing sounds of the Chris Hani Jazz Festival
The Cradock local economy received a boost as jazz enthusiasts flocked to the town to watch their national and local artists perform at the Chris Hani Jazz Festival on 20 October 2023. The jazz festival was hosted by the department in partnership with the Chris Hani District Municipality and the East London Guild Theatre.
Amanda Mankayi, Bongeziwe Mabandla, Mthatha group 047 and Zadwesh were among the renowned artists that uplifted, inspired, and healed the audience with their soulful performances.
Various local artists selected from our 8 districts shared the stage with these great jazz musicians. The local artists rubbed shoulders with professionals and receive an opportunity to expose their talent.
The jazz festival is a provincial platform aimed at developing and exposing local talent. The festival provided a significant boost for the local economy.

Ministerial Imbizo: Sustainability in the Creative Sector 🗓

Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Zizi Kodwa led the Ministerial Imbizo at the Miriam Makeba Arts Centre in East London on the 13th of October.
In his consultation with the creatives sector, the Minister committed to providing more support to the arts. He highlighted that the department is taking a step towards transforming from being event-focused, to adopting a sustainable approach to assist the challenges in the sector. Kodwa emphasised that it is time that the department steered from providing funding to the same individuals and groups, and rather extend their support to benefit more projects across the country.
Members from various arts and culture organisations used the platform as an opportunity to voice their grievances. It provided a forum for creatives from the region to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the industry, siting the more most pressing issues were poor infrastructure, lack of funding as well as the marginalisation of people with disabilities in the sector. Despite the numerous challenges they face, the creative sector acknowledged the department’s legacy and its commitment to the growth of the creative arts in the province.

DSRAC Hosts EC Provincial Summer Games 🗓

DSRAC Hosts EC Provincial Summer Games
Scores of young athletes flocked to East London to represent their districts at the Provincial Summer Games, which took place from the 13th – 14th of October 2023.
Schools from all eight districts competed in the selection process that determined the athletes that would represent the Eastern Cape at the National Schools Championships in December. The championships featured a range of sport and recreational codes, including softball, rugby sevens, cricket, gymnastics, morabaraba and kgati, as well as basketball, table tennis and goalball which featured both able-bodied participation, and adapted versions of the codes for athletes with disabilities.
The Provincial Schools Summer Games Championships continue to be the cornerstone of the country’s sport development as they identify and nurture school-level talent in the summer sport codes. It ensures that learners are provided the opportunity to participate in school sport activities, thus creating a platform for recognising top performing athletes.

Geneva Scholtz Women’s Rugby Tournament Fosters Women’s Rugby in the Eastern Cape 🗓

The Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture hosted the Geneva Scholtz Women’s Rugby Tournament in honour of the late rugby player, Geneva Scholtz. The event was held from the 6th – 8th October 2023 in Middelburg.
The department, in partnership with the Eastern Province (EP) and Border Rugby Unions has taken a note that nationally and provincially rugby is a priority sporting code, for its potential to address gender issues and equalize the playing fields for all genders. Women’s rugby has also become one of the most successful stories in the Eastern Cape. All the eight districts were represented in the tournament, and this year, netball was also added as part of developing the tournament to accommodate various sporting codes.
The tournament is an annual sport event held in memory of Geneva Scholtz who passed away in 2013 while representing her club, Middleburg Stormers in the Eastern Province Rugby League match in Humansdorp. Geneva also represented the Junior u20 Springbok team and played for Eastern Province women’s team. The tournament is part of the department’s continuous efforts to promote social cohesion and nation building through sport.

Commemoration of the late Nkosi Ncaphayi 🗓

A memorial monument was erected and unveiled in honour of Nkosi Ncaphayi, on the 29th of September 2023 in Gwadana. Ncaphayi was a traditional leader who became known for his immense contribution to the struggle against colonial expansion and land dispossession.
The commemoration marked 145 years since the conflict between amaGcaleka and the British-led army resumed in 1877. Nkosi Ncaphayi was one of formidable Xhosa traditional leaders that featured prominently in the Wars of Resistance, also known as the Eastern Cape Frontier Wars (1779 – 1878). Nkosi Ncaphayi fought in the Ninth Frontier War at the Battle of Gwadana where he was killed in 1878. It is thought he was buried around the area; however, the actual place of his burial remains unknown.
The memorial monument was aimed at keeping the memory of his contribution, and many others who fought against colonial invasion to defend their nation, alive as well as adding to the richness of the history in the Gwadana area.

National Indigenous Games 🗓

Heritage month closed off with the National Indigenous Games simmering to a close in Durban’s Hoy Park, Kwa-Zulu Natal. The Indigenous Games Festival is an annual event hosted by the Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture (DSAC) to highlight nine of the most popularly played indigenous games in South Africa. The 17th edition of the games were held from the 24-29 September 2023, in a week-long jostle for the gold.
Top athletes from each of the country’s provinces competed to represent their respective provinces in the various codes, namely: dibeke, kgati, drie stokkies, jukskei, upuca, morabaraba, iintonga, kho-kho and ncuva. Balance, reflexes, hand-eye coordination, accuracy, and patience are some of the vital skills that are strengthened when participating in the indigenous sporting codes. These abilities are often learnt at a young age through indigenous games and are retained through play throughout adulthood.
The Indigenous Games Festival is part of the national department’s effort of promoting social cohesion and nation building through the revival of indigenous games, as well as encouraging an active lifestyle, particularly in youth.
Among the standout performances from the Eastern Cape team, drie stokkies champion, Dellarise ‘Kleintjie’ Christian set a new record of 10,67m, breaking the previous 10,55m record.

MEC hands over Netball World Cup Trophy following the EC Tour 🗓

Spirits were high as the Netball World Cup Trophy landed in EC hands, where it was accepted by the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture MEC, Nonceba Kontsiwe on the 28th of June 2023. The trophy made rounds across the province starting in the Joe Gqabi District and ended in Sarah Baartman, where it was subsequently handed over to Western Cape Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Anroux Marais, whose province will be this year’s hosts of the Netball World Cup tournament.
The tour was aimed at creating a buzz for the upcoming Netball World Cup tournament, which is set to run from the 28th of July to the 6th of August 2023, in Cape Town. Communities across the province flocked in their numbers to get a glimpse of the trophy, which made its first debut on African soil. Various schools and sports clubs joined in the festivities as they participated in the netball matches that were being played.

MEC Congratulates Nontshinga in retaining his IBF Junior Fly-Weight World Championship 🗓

Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe congratulated Sivenathi Nontshinga after defending his junior fly weight title belt against Regie Suganob on the 2nd of July 2023 in East London.
Nontshinga won the IBF title after he defeated the Mexican Hector Flores back in September 2022 and that fight was dubbed the fight of the year.
“We want to congratulate Sive, “The Special One” Nontshinga on his title defence. He was not just carrying the weight of the province or the country on his shoulders but the aspirations of the continent as well. He has done us proud. Equally, we want to thank his team for conditioning him for this fight. Congratulations to him and his team,” said the MEC.

Benefit for EC schools and clubs during provincial leg of the Netball World Cup Trophy Tour 🗓

The Eastern Cape Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe graced a total of 66 netball clubs, hubs, and schools around the province with a handover of netball materials and equipment during the provincial leg of the Netball World Cup Trophy Tour, which started on the 28th June 2023 and ended on 03rd July 2023.
Included in the tour is the initiative the MEC referred to as part of the department’s “legacy project” where netball equipment was handed over to the beneficiaries. The equipment worth R2 791 768.00 was handed over to netball clubs, hubs and schools in all six districts of the province as well as two metros to assist them in meeting the challenges they are faced with when it comes to demand for sports equipment and equipment shortages.
MEC Kontsiwe said the objective with the initiative was to see the provincial leg of the tour leave a lasting impact in all the districts and metros that the tour visited. A number of 13 leagues, 23 netball hubs and 28 schools benefited from the initiative with the MEC saying she hopes to see development impacting especially children coming from disadvantaged backgrounds in the province. Kontsiwe said, “We hope to see a girl child who will represent the country in netball coming from the rural outskirts of the province who will attribute her success to our continued interventions.”

Africa Month Launch 🗓

Africa Month Launch

Talk To Us

  • +27 605852459
  • Anti-Fraud Line 087 287 8635

Customer Care Enquiries

    Site Links

    © 2024 Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture | Powered by Nkqubela Technologies CC