City Series highlights pollution problem
TWO top SA surfers surfing a plastic wave made from recycled bottles in the middle of a water fountain in the heart of the Montecasino earlier this week certainly drew attention from onlookers at the leisure complex in Sandton.
If you were curious enough to find out just why leading World Surf League Africa surfers Nicole Pallet and Jordy Maree were having fun in the sweltering sun they would have told you in an instant that it was all for a good cause, courtesy of the City Surf Series.
The fourth instalment of the annual CSS, with events to be held at Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth), Port Alfred and KwaZulu-Natal (Durban) from April through May and June has a key focus on sustainability, hence the standing wave drawing attention to prevent plastic pollution in the ocean.
All CSS events will have dedicated recycling zones, water stations, environmentally friendly vendors as well as a fun, educational activation areas which will highlight the global drive for reusing, renewing and recycling as much as possible.
Thanks to the support and guidelines by a local NGO, Ocean Pledge, the CSS events hope to be a catalyst to inspire active change around plastic pollution within the coastal communities that each event is hosted in.
Community Beach Clean Ups will form part of each CSS event itinerary and members of the public are invited to be involved with all Beach Clean Up schedules to be posted on the CSS social media platforms.
The flagship event on the CSS this year is the Volkswagen SA Open of Surfing presented by Hurley, a WSL QS 3,000 rated event in June for women making it the biggest women’s event on the African continent.
The VW SA Open will see the likes of former WSL Championship Tour (CT) competitor Bianca Buitendag (South Africa), current WSL CT surfer Silvana Lima (Brazil) and former Women’s World Champion Sofia Mulanovich (Peru) all on the entry list. Junior surfing will be also be another big focus of the VW SA Open of Surfing celebrating Youth Day on 16 June where WSL Junior Champions will also be crowned on the national youth holiday.
“Volkswagen People Movers, particularly the Kombi, is synonymous with surfing in this country so for us, renewing our sponsorship with the CSS for the third year made perfect sense,” said Andile Dlamini, General Manager for Group Communications.
“Not only do the CSS events support our economy, the events give back to the community and environment by incorporating Learn to Surf Initiatives as well as Community Clean-theBeach programmes, which supports our VW For Good CSI campaign,” added Dlamini.
The 2019 City Surf Series Event Schedule:
■ Nelson Mandela Bay Surf Pro (18-20 April) – Port Elizabeth
■ Royal St Andrews Hotel Port Alfred Classic (22-24 April) – Port Alfred
■ Durban Surf Pro (10-12 May) – North Beach, Durban
■ VW SA Open of Surfing presented by Hurley (13-17 June) – PE