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Northern Cape

} Boipelo Mere

THE Lerato Place of Safety based inKimberley will now be able to achieve theirlong-term goal of developing a friendlyenvironment for the facility’s children.This will be done through intervention

from the Department of CorrectionalServices which officially adopted thecentre in an effort to prevent and eliminatecrime, poverty, underdevelopment andinequalities.The Lerato Place of Safety has a capacity

for 65 children and is reported to be theonly rehabilitation centre for children inthe Northern Cape.According to the principal of the facility,

Sheila Mothobi, the centre caters forchildren who need care and protection afterbeing on the wrong site of the law andhaving facing a number of social challeng-es.She highlighted that the centre’s children

were referred to them by the courts.“They are children who have experienced

diverse trauma and come from distortedbackgrounds. We are here to break thattrauma,” she says.The acting national commissioner,

Nontsikelelo Jolingana, says the departmentis adopting the Lerato Place of Safety as akey beneficiary for their growing outreachprogramme aimed at connecting theDepartment of Correctional Services withinstitutions of their society.“We acknowledge that our average inmate

is a young substance abuser who hasdropped out of school before reaching highschool, is functionally illiterate and moreoften than not homeless,” says Jolingana.According to Jolingana, the adoption

process was an intervention effort of thedepartment to prevent the children frombeing sent to correctional centres throughcrime.She says the department will in the

future continuously contribute by sharingtheir food production skills with the centre.The Lerato Place of Safety will be

assisted in building a food garden and willalso benefit from the department’s dona-tions of meat, vegetables and other agricul-tural products where the department hasproduced more than required for consump-tion by the inmates internally.

“We will share with them expertise tohelp them achieve self-sufficiency in thisfield of food production,” promised theacting national commissioner.In an effort to build a society that is

based on democratic values, social andeconomic justice, equality fundamentalhuman rights, Jolingana says centres suchas the Lerato Place of Safety must be

developed into trusted and functionalone-stop centres for child justice.“We are happy to be adopted by the

department in an effort to intervene early.“We don’t want our children to steal,

so we try to identify a leader withinthose influencial children by turningnegative strength or influence intopositive influence,” Mothobi says.

Children’s home adoptedDCS tries to eliminate crime, poverty and other social ills

A TEAM of the Department of Correctional Services flanked the regional commissioner, Subashini Moodley (second from right), andthe acting national commissioner, Nontsikelelo Jolingana (right), when they started the clean­up process at the Lerato Place of Safety.

Photo: Boipelo Merte

2 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014

EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE , WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014 3

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

INTERVENTION from parents ofa Galeshewe high school has beenemphasised after the schoolbecame notorious for a high rateof gangsterism.

An increased rate of absentee-ism and drop-outs by learnerswas reported at a recent parentmeeting. The parents were forcedto speak out themselves, due tolearners’ fear of victimisation.

Learners are reportedly chasedand stabbed by gang membersduring school hours.

Parents said they were sick andtired of the Department ofEducation that had been in-formed, but dragged its feet inany kind of intervention regard-ing the matter.

They revealed that they wererequested during the meeting todo voluntary patrolling on theschool premises to protect theirchildren.

A learner of the school linkedthe gangsters called CMs, BBCsand KKKs in all schools to eachone another.

“If there is no kind of interven-tion at schools, a big war is goingto erupt one day, because theymeet outside of school hours,”said the girl.

“The sad part is that, eventhough the police are called orthe patrol team intervenes duringa fight, the victimisation contin-ues outside of school. This monthmy son has never been to schooldue to victimisation, as he iscontinuously chased with knives.

“Another learner of his ageended up leaving town for hisown safety.

“Even the teachers know whatis happening, but they are tooafraid to speak up,” a parentsaid.

She added that she was wellaware that the previous princi-pal used to try his utmost toinvolve the Department ofEducation in 2013, but it did nothelp.

Another parent said that shehad taken it upon herself toapproach some of the learnerswho were reported to belong toone of the gangs.

“They are still young, betweenthe ages of 16 and 19. I foundthem hanging around at thehostels, dressed in their schooluniform and all.

“It took guts for me to ap-proach them to ask why theywere throwing away theirfuture.”

The parent explained that theboys had been sincere.

She said she was surprised atthe way they had communicatedwith her, revealing that theywere left with no choice but tojoin other gangs as they weretired of being bullied by a certaingang.

She added that the group ofboys said they would welcomeany intervention measures, “butfor now this is our way ofsurvival”.

The Northern Cape Departmentof Education reported that therewere no recorded or reported

cases of gangsterism at theschool.

“We cannot validate suchclaims until we have casesreported to us,” stated thedepartment.

The Galeshewe Cluster CPFreported that they were settingup intervention programmesregarding the issue of gangster-ism at schools, especially at thespecific school.

According to Gregory Nyon-gane of the CPF they rate this asnaughty gangsterism as thelearners are bored, seek attentionand abuse alcohol which leads tocrime.

He further revealed that thecluster would soon unveil itsmoral regeneration programmeand that Dr Matholo Motshegahad been invited to addressmoral issues amongst youngpeople.

“The JPS Cluster and themedia will be involved to informcommunities of our new strate-gies,” he added.

The CPF further urged the SolPlaatje Municipality to fast-track

the process of the installation ofCCTV cameras as promised byformer mayor Patrick Everydayfour years ago.

“I can remember his promisevery clearly, because it wasduring one of his beautifulspeeches when he said thatCCTV cameras would deal withvisibility through technology.

“It is also about time that theSubstance Abuse Strategy islaunched and implemented tothe fullest by the Department ofSocial Development so thatissues of substance abuse can bedealt with.”Express Northern Cape could

not get any comment from thespecific school, as it was con-stantly reported that the deputyprincipal was busy in class.

Even after messages were left,the school did not respond.

By the time of going to print,the SAPS reported to be stillgiving the media enquiry thenecessary attention.

} Boipelo Mere

RESIDENTS of Taung and thesurrounding areas are encour-aged to heed the call and contactthe Merithitho CommunityPharmacy for their annual fluvaccine and flu-pack.

The pharmacy is located in theTaung Mall in Main Street.

Due to the wet weather acrossthe North-West province, morecases of flu are expected.

According to Lulu Kgosieng,the pharmacist at Merithitho,they also offer services forcounselling and dispensing ofmedicine.

They also offer cholesterol,blood sugar and blood pressuremonitoring and do ear-piercing aswell.

Get yourflu vaccineGangsterism stirs parents

’The sad part isthat . . . the vic­

timisation contin­ues outside of

school.’

S DO you know ofgang-related activitiesor are you involved inany way?S You can contactExpress Northern Capeand share your experi-ence. Send an email toBoipelo.Mere@volks-blad.com.) Your identity will beprotected.

} Boipelo Mere

THE office building of a memberof the executive council, the MECfor Sport, Arts and Culture, isnow officially known as the BrianHermanus House.

The building block has beennamed after the former MEC whohad served the department from1999 to 2000.

He and his private secretary,Mervyn Erlank, died in a caraccident while driving to Calviniaon 26 July 2000.

Hermanus was a foundingmember of the United DemocraticFront (UDF) and the NationalUnion of Mineworkers (NUM).

Building named

4 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

SMILES were on everyone’s faces whenseven local charity organisations heard theywill share R175 000. The handover was madelast week by Sun City Cyclists at theFlamingo Casino.According to Flamingo Casino, the cyclists

brought with them a cheque for R50 000which will be equally split between theanimal welfare organisation SPCA and the StVincent de Paul’s Society who help many ofKimberley’s poorer communities with foodand clothing. A further R125 000, donated bythe Flamingo Casino Corporate SocialInvestment, will be shared among SwanelEnterprises who assist in the development of

disabled cyclists, Meals on Wheels, Women toWomen , the Hands On Steel Band and MoAfrica Youth Development. The last benefici-ary nominated the disabled cyclist ThaboSesing who received a bursary towards hiselectrical studies at the Northern CapeTechnical College. For more pictures of thebeneficiaries go to www.express-news.co.za.

Smiles all around as organisations share donation

FROM the left are, front: Lahlu Mabula (Fla­mingo Casino marketing manager), NicoleFlint (Miss SA 2009) and Thabo Sesing (Afri­can champion for disabled cyclists in the C4class); back: Johann Mare (Sun City Cy­clists), David Posthumus (Sun City Cyclists)and Peter Guthrie (Flamingo Casino generalmanager).

EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE , WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014 5

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this summer, by setting your home’s air-conditioner to a cool 23°C. Ensure the air-conditioner is

off in unoccupied rooms or alternatively open windows and doors to keep cool. By using these

simple tips, you’ll be helping ease the pressure on the national power grid and you can save

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NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

IT is all systems go for the 2014 Tsantsa-bane Community Idols.Altogether 18 hopefuls out of the

80 registered talented youths made itto the second phase of the music competi-tion.Everyone is now excited to see the first

ever Tsantsabane Idol.The winner will be announced at a

prestigious event on Saturday, 3 May.The first phase of the competition

happened over the weekend.This weekend’s auditions proved that the

youths were very talented.The competition was open to youths

between the ages of 14 and 35 years.A registration fee of R5 was charged at

auditions at Postmasburg.Only 18 contestants received two golden

stars during the first phase of the compe-tition.On 5 April, these hopefuls will each be

performing three songs in front of a liveaudience.It is here where the top ten finalists will

be shortlisted.According to one of the organisers of the

event, Hendré Jacobs, they regard thecompetition so far a success.This is because it is the first community-

driven project in the region.Different organisations like the

Tsantsabane Centre of Hope (TCH), afaith-based and welfare NGO, in partner-ship with a National Youth DevelopmentOutreach (NYDO) brought the Idols toTsantsabane.However, he said it was difficult for the

contestants to be less anxious than theyalready were.He even pleaded with the judges not to

be so harsh and critical.“All the judges are from the Tsantsabane

municipal area and they all have amusical background,” he clarified.In response to whether there we any last

minute bail-outs by the entrants, Jacobsresponded that once the entrants haveregistered to audition, they cannot backaway.The purpose of the competition is to

unearth raw talent.It was also developed to stimulate

interest and conversation aboutthe arts amongst the youth of Tsantsa-bane.The competition is further expected to

build confidence within all contestants toface the harsh world.“We tried our best to prevent the

registered contestants from being intimi-dated or discouraged after the registrationprocess.“After the registration, marshals would

accompany the contestants into the mainhall.“Here they are all seated in numerical

order,” he explained.He said that in this way, all contestants

were safe and away from those who hadalready finished auditioning and gettingtheir results.“We channelled the process in such a

way that those who were finished wereunable to meet the ones in the registrationprocess,” emphasised Jacobs.

The search for talented youths is onREADY: The audi­tions for the Tsant­sabane CommunityIdols have com­menced. From leftare the volunteersFrancis Jacobs andAndy Theys, one ofthe contestants Boi­tumelo Maoko, andvolunteers DerickRooiland and Rowe­na Jacobs on thefirst day of the audi­tions. Photo: Supplied

6 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

Ouma Lena Mocumi, mongwe wa bagodi baGaasca o makaditse ditshaba ka pholo yagagwe e ntle mo dingwageng tsa lekgolo.

Ka laboraro wa beke e e fetileng o ne aketeka letsatsi la gagwe la matsalo a diradingwaga tse lekgolo (100). O ne a le ketekagammogo le bagodi nae, baagisane le ditsalako legaeng la bagodi la Gaasca ko Galeshewe.

Se se makatsang ka Ouma Mocumi kegore, o a bona le fa a sa bonele kgakala. O autlwa le fa a sa utlwe sentle. O kgona goikisa ntlwaneng a tsamaya ka thobane, osantse a na le meno a a tiileng go ka jasengwe le sengwe, go tsenyeletsa le le nama.

Go ya ka ngwetsi ya ga Ouma Mocumi,Keitumetse Mocumi, Ouma o santse aitekanetse moo ebileng a iseng a tsamaye atseye meriana e e tseelwang ruri (chronicmedication) jaaka ba bantsi ba dira. Lebakale le lengwe fela le mogogadie a le tsamae-lang ngaka, ke noka e e kileng ya robega.

“Ntle le moo, o itekanetse, go nale ba bantsi ba dingwaga tsa gagwe,” ga gatelelaRapodile.

“Ke golele kae, ke setse ke godile. Kegodisitse bana ba bantsi” Ouma Mocumi atshega erile mokwaladikgang wa ExpressNorthern Cape a mo eleletsa masego le kgoloka moletlo wa letsatsi la gagwe la matsalo.

Go ya ka Ouma Mocumi, se se neng sedira letsatsi la gagwe gore le kgethege, kegore Moprimiri wa profense ya Kapa BokoneSylvia Lucas o ne a tsaya matsapa, a ya goketeka moletlo le ene. Bao ba neng bapotapotile Lucas ke Mokhuduthamaga walefapha la katlaatleloloago mme TinyChotelo, o le ene a neng a keteka letsatsi lagagwe la matsalo.

Go ne gape go tlile Barbara Bartlett e lengmoemedi wa ANC mo Kapa Bokone lebadiredipuso ba ofisi ya moprimiri go tla goetleletsa mma Mocumi.

Morago ga gore a opelele Ouma pina e emolodi a le esi, Moprimiri o ne a tlhagisa faofisi ya gagwe e sweditse go direla Oumamoletlo bogolo go na le gore ba mofemphonyana fela, jaaka ba Gaasca ba ne badirile kopo ya mpho.

A tsweletsa ka gore se, e ne ele maitlhomoa go bontsha fa bagodi ba tshwanetse gotsewa tsia thata ka ntlha ya fa demokrasi e ebonwang e le ka ntlha ya maiteko le dithatatsa bona.

“Lebaka le legolo le le dirileng gore ke boke le fa, ke go bontsha fa ke tsaya tsiabagodi ba rona go feta ka ele bone batho babotlhokwa mo profenseng. Ouma o phetsebotshelo bo kgethegileng, jalo o tlhoka gotlotlomadiwa le go etlelediwa, ebile re rapelagore Modimo o tswelela go mo babalela,” gabua Moprimiri pele a tswelela go atla Oumake lorato. Moprimiri o ne a neela Oumatšeke ya makgolo a matlhano e e tswang gommasepala wa Sol Plaatjie.

“Ke ya go reka kgomo ha ke tswa ha,”Ouma a bolelela mokwaladikgang kaboitumelo e rile a sena go tlhalosediwa fapampitshana e a neng a e newa ke Moprim-iri e le boleng jwa madi.

Ouma o ne a tlhalosa fa a ne asa tlhalogan-ya gore o filwe madi ka ntlha ya matlho a lebokoa.

“Ohooo, nka itse jang ka matlho ke a ga abone sentle, mme ba tla ntlhabela kgomo kaone madi ao,” Oumama a bua a tshegatshegake go kgatlhega.

Lucas o tsweletse ka go rotloetsa bagodi lematlo borakanelo a bagodi gore ba tsweletseka go tokafatsa maphelo a bone ka go bakwadisa mo ditirong tsa botlhaga le met-shameko (Golden Games and Aerobics) tsapuso gore ba nne ba itekanetse.

Go bao ba sa itekanelang o tlhagisitse goreba dirise thuso potlako ya legae (Home BasedCare) gore ba kgone go tsaya ditlhare tsabone jaka go le matshwanedi, go nna ba lephepa le go ja sentle.

Mokhuduthamaga Chotelo le ene o ne alatlhela tlhware legonyana ka go ipoka a leLesego gore a bo a gola ka letsatsi le lelengwe le Ouma Mocumi.

“Ke dumela fa seo ele sesupo sa gore lennake tla nna mongwe wa baba lesego go ketekadingwaga tse lekgolo. Ga se ba bantsi ba balesego le le kanakana. Beibele yare, ‘retshwanetse go bala ditshegofatso tsa rona.’ Sese kaya gore ouma Mocumi ga a ka a latlhatshepo fa a ntse a gola. Le fa a ne a kopanale matshwenyego mo tseleng,” ga buaChotelo.

Ouma Lena Mocumi o ile a tshegofadiwaka bana ba le supa, mo ba le barataro baneng ba tlhokafala. O nale ditlogolo dile nnele ditlogolwana dile pedi.

Irene Ndlovu Njovu, motsamaisi waGaasca o ile a leboga botlhe bao ba tsentsengletsogo mo go thuseng gore moletlo o atlegejaaka Pick n Pay ya Galeshewe le ya toropo,Jabulani Butchery, Shoprite, Numain,Vuyani Self Service, Butterfield le Age inAction.

Go ya ka ene, Ouma Mocumi ke mongwewa baba kgethegileng ka gonne o, e ne elemoletlo o o gaisang yotlhe ka katlego.

“Baša ba rona ba tshwanetse go tsayamaele le go tsamaya mo ditlhakong tsa ba batshwanang le Ouma Mocumi.” Ndlovu a bua.) Vist www.express-news.co.za for morepictures on our gallery. Also listen toOuma Mocumi’s plans for her chequevoucher.

Dingwaga tse lekgolo ga se papadiDingwaga tse lekgolo ga se papadi

MOPRIMIRI SYLVIALUCAS o ne a atlaOuma LenaMocumika lorato ka moletlowa gagwe wa ding­waga tse lekgolo.Photos: Boipelo Mere

MOKHUDUTHAMaga wa lefapha la Katlaatleloloago mme Tiny Chotelo (molemeng) lemongwewa batlamoletlong Sanah Shweni(mojeng) le bone ba ne ba gola ka lone letsatsileo.

EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE , WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014 7

Bridging the gap between places, people and skills

THE NEW WARRENTON BRIDGE on the N18

“We can only hope for more of these types of substantial projects through whichto engage our communities – it has offered great experience.”

Ms Manopole, Mayor of the Magareng Municipality.

The Warrenton Bridge story

• Warrenton is an agricultural townthat plays an important role in theeconomy of the region.

• It also serves as the junctionbetween the N12, which leads fromGauteng to Kimberley and thereafterthe Western Cape and the N18,which leads from Warrenton toMafikeng and thereafter the RSA-Botswana border.

• For this reason the area has beenearmarked as a national priority forthe development of infrastructure.

Improvements to the bridge

• The old bridge proved to be toolow as it was often under waterduring high river flows. It also had asingle lane that provided for one-way traffic only.

• SANRAL conducted a series ofenvironmental and social impactstudies and re-engineered thebridge to address these issues.

• The end result is an overhauledbridge that is high enough from theriver bed to allow safe crossing forcyclists, pedestrians and motoristsand that has two lanes forimproved traffic flow.

Job creation and transfer of skills

• SANRAL leveraged the project tobenefit the communities from thearea by creating opportunities foremployment and skills developmentfor them.

• Around 50% of the R12 million thatwas spent on employment on theproject, was spent on locals.

• More than R10 million’s worth ofwork was given to SMME’s forcrucial services that formed part ofthe project.

3179

Warrenton

_300x196

NEWS

} Boipelo Mere

MANASSEH INTERNATIONALPRAYER MINISTRY is inviting thedifferent community members anddifferent churches to participate intheir fundraising initiative.

The church is requesting all respond-ents to register as performers in theirupcoming concert.

The church, under the leadership ofBishop Solomon Mosepele and Evange-list Clement Mokete, will be hosting amusic concert on 29 March.

The concert will take place at theManasseh Church in White City.

According to one of the organisersof the event and church member,Mampa Thomas, this upcoming concertpromises to give the attendants muchpraise and worship from differentparticipants.

He says that the mother church ofManasseh Ministry is in Bloemfontein.

The other brances of the church includethe one in Kimberley.

There is also one in Postmasburg.The church also celebrated 10 years of

its existence last year.He says the concert is being organ-

ised to raise funds for the church.It is expected that the concert will be

a huge success.The church organisers have already

sent out public invitations and ap-proached different churches.

Registrations for performances areR30 for groups and R10 for a soloperformance.

Entrance for the concert at the end ofthe month will cost R20 for adults.

Children will be charged R5 to enter.

Manasseh Ministry hosts concert

} George Mutloane

SOUTH AFRICA, and indeed the world atlarge, lost a son in Mbulelo VisikhungoMzamane who was buried a week ago in theEast Rand in Gauteng.

Mzamane was an academic par excellenceand above all, one of the exiled generation ofwriters whose work was dedicated to reflecton the situation in South Africa. Amongsthis peers are luminaries such as Zakes Mda,estranged husband and wife Prof. Keorapet-se Kgosietsile, ANC chairperson BalekaMbete, Prof. Njabulo Ndebele, Wally Serote,Andries Oliphant, Judge Albie Sachs, BenDikobe, Antjie Krog and Breyten Breyten-bach.

It was the content of Mbulelo Mzamane’spaper at the writer’s conference held at theWits University in 1993 that drew attentionto his ability to transform words into amental action, complete with vivid charac-ters.

The topic for his paper at the conferencewas: What is the role of an African writer inthis fragmented society?.

South Africa at the time was at a crossroads. Liberation movements were unbannedand exiles were streaming back to thecountry while politicians were busyfashioning out the future for what wasthen a constitutionally fragmented SouthAfrica.

In his approach to his topic Mzamane gavean illustration of Keorapetse Kgosietsilecontent that in constructing a society oneshould ensure that the foundation is craftedlike the coffin whose bottom never peels offdue to the weight of the body.

Later when Mzamane was made a vice-chancellor at the Fort Hare University, heintroduced programmes that made someconservatives in the university feel uneasy,but he made it clear that he was a writer atforemost and academic by choice.

He repeated his mantra that a writer wasby nature a disturber of peace.

“A writer should always pose questionsthat are more difficult to answer,” he wrotein his conference paper.

Indeed the passing away of MbuleloMzamane and those of his ilk in the past isa reminder that while many in the countrywere scattered all over the globe seekinghelp to destroy the monster called apartheidin South Africa, they did not forget theirresponsibility of arming themselves witheducation and what-else so that once themonster was defeated, there would beenough citizens to carry the heavy burden ofreconstructing the fibre of the fragmentedSouth Africa.

Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane is theauthor of Mzala (1980), Children of Soweto(1982), Children of the Diaspora (1996), and achildren’s book, Race between the Turtles andthe Cheetahs (2004).

He is editor of Selected Poems: MonganeWally Serote (1982), Selected Poems: SiphoSydney Sepamla (1983), Hungry Flames andOther Black South African Stories (1986), andWords Gone Two Soon: Tribute to PhaswaneMpe and K. Sello Duiker (2006).

He is co-editor of Global Voices: Contempo-rary Literature from the Non-Western World(1995).

Tributeto SAwriter

MBULELO VISIKHUNGO MZAMANE as theworld came to appreciate, was an academicpar excellence. Photo: Google

8 EXPRESS NORTHERN CAPE, WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014

} Sidwell Guduka

PRIORITISE educa-tion over sports, saysKhumbulani Konco,the CEO of Bloemfon-tein Celtic.The former Orlan-

do Pirates and Celticplayer was studyingwhile playing footballprofessionally, andheobtained a BSc Hon-ours.In an exclusive in-

terview with Express,Konco says football-ers should go toschool to receive aneducation and to fur-ther their careers out-side of soccer.“At Celtic we wish

that all our playerswithmatric can regis-ter with different in-stitutions to furthertheir studies. We al-ways encourage themto go to school so thatthey can have some-thing to fall back onwhen their playingdays are over.“Even those who

did not finish matricmust go back toschool and make surethat theymatriculate.“A matric certifi-

cate is a minimum re-quirement that manycompanies look forwhen they need to re-cruit new employees.We want our playersto become responsi-ble citizens once theirplaying days are over,starting with a solideducational founda-tion,” says Konco.“Players are role

models in the societyand a lot of young-sters look up to them.We believe this willencourage even thecommunity membersto see the importanceof education throughplayers,” he adds.It is no secret that

footballers earn de-cent salaries, but theybecome destituteonce they hang uptheir soccer boots.“This is caused by

the fact that most ofthe professional soc-cer players do nothave tertiary educa-tion or any other skillor plan to fall back on.The majority of thembecome jobless andstruggle to make endsmeet once they re-tire,” the CEO ex-

plains.He says his club is

currently embarkingon a programmewhere they visitschools to encouragepupils toprioritise ed-ucation over sports.“We believe that it

is important forlearners to put educa-tion ahead of sports.We always try to en-courage them to fin-ish their matric firstbefore consideringtaking sport as theircareer, even if theyare good at any sportsthey are involved in.“We don’t want the

youngsters to makethe samemistakes wemade in the past.“It was believed

that if you are notgood academicallythen you should pur-sue a career in sport.That was a wrongconcept. We need tocorrect that.”Amongst Celtic’s

current crop of play-ers only two are cur-rently busywith stud-ies.They are Blessing

Mngomezulu andThapelo Morena.

Mngomezulu is en-rolled at the CentralUniversity of Tech-nology (CUT). He isstudying part-time to-wards a national di-ploma in Environ-mental Health.

He is in his thirdyear.As forMorena, who

made his professionaldebut against Maritz-burg United last year,he is doing his matricat the Petunia High

School in Heidedal.Meanwhile, Lerato

Lamola is one of veryfew local footballersarmed with a formaleducation that couldsustain him beyondthe field.

The fearsome strik-er has completedcourses in both Lawand Logistics at theTshwane UniversityofTechnology (TUT) afew years ago.Today, football

comes first for Lamo-la – andhe is excellingfor Celtic.He has been in a

great form, creatingand scoring impor-tant goals for theclub.

Konco: Get education firstKHUMBULANI KONCO, CEO of Bloemfontein Celtic. Photo: Sidwell Guduka

‘A matric certificate is a minimum requirementthatmanycompanies look forwhen theyneed torecruit new employees. We want our players tobecome responsible citizens once their playingdays are over, starting with a solid educationalfoundation.’– Khumbulani Konco

For moresports stories and news,photos and interestingpeople and eventsvisit the website at

www.express-news.co.zaor expresspaper.mobi