Sport an important outlet for SA’s youth

NELSON Mandela once said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to the youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where there was once only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.”

At a grass-roots level, sport not only nurtures ordinary youth to become future stars but can keep children away from drugs and gangsterism. Sport is an outlet that can help revive community moral regeneration. Communities are riddled with many social ills such as crime, undesirable teenage pregnancies and youth unemployment. Many youths have shown a willingness to drop delinquent lifestyles, but have cited a lack of recreational facilities as a drawback, and this is detrimental to their development.

Such a facility would reignite the zeal of the youth of Devon to dream big. With the recent handover of a refurbished multi-purpose sports complex to the Impumelelo community in Devon by the executive mayor of the Lesedi Local Municipality, it is heart-warming to see that the government has identified sport as a vehicle to achieve social cohesion among communities as well as to nurture talent at grass-roots level.

The renovation was co-funded by the Lesedi Local Municipality and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, with the aim of contributing towards the development of sports in Devon.

The department through its rural infrastructure development unit contributed more than R7million to the project. By renovating the sports facility, the department is fulfilling a broader mandate of the comprehensive rural development programme, which seeks to address issues of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, food security, lack of proper health facilities and recreational amenities, particularly in rural areas.

The handover has brought a glimmer of hope to the youth of the Impumelelo settlement, and the exercise has demonstrated the importance of collaboration between all spheres of government in developing communities, particularly in the rural areas.