Sports body hopes to redress apartheid snub

Pietermaritzburg-based Sports Veterans’ Association wants to do right by sports people who were overlooked during the apartheid era.

It plans to honour 100 South African sportsmen and women over the age of 50 whose achievements were not recognised by the government before 1994, at a function in February next year.

Association spokesman Viddy Naidoo said it would host a meeting on Saturday at the Allandale Primary School, Pietermaritzburg, from 2pm at which nominees would be discussed.

“The organisation wishes to extend an invitation to all sporting enthusiasts from northern KwaZulu-Natal to attend,” he said. “We just want to award people who had been left by the wayside because of the previous political dispensation — people who belonged to our country but were not recognised because of their colour.”

Naidoo said an awards ceremony was held last year but the association feared it had not been able to honour all the sportspeople it had hoped to because some had not been able to get in touch with the organisation in time.

“We are planning to award another 100. We’re trying to put it all right and have another function on February 22 next year,” he said. Contact Naidoo on 033 346 0419/073 751 6010 or Ismail Bhamjee on 033 342 0225/033 391 3336 for more information.