Indy, Sanlam team up for CT Marathon
INDEPENDENT MEDIA was named an official partner of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon at the 50-day countdown to the event yesterday.
Jermaine Craig, head of Independent Media’s sports division, says the partnership with the Cape Town Marathon is a strategic move to align the media company with this world-class event.
“Running is the most accessible leisure activity, and in Cape Town especially, it brings people together in a way that transcends our diverse cultures as the people of this city.
“This is what we strive to achieve with our long-standing brands as well – our media platforms are essentially bridge-builders and connectors of people,” said Craig.
“We at Independent Media are looking forward to a strong partnership with the excellent Sanlam Cape Town Marathon.
“As the African continent’s only gold-standard marathon, we support the lofty global objectives of staging an event comparable to the best in the world, among the likes of the London, Berlin, New York and Tokyo marathons.
“Even more so, we at Independent have the strong Cape Town and national footprint to support the event’s growth in South Africa’s strong road running community, and to engage, unite and involve all sectors of the Cape Town community behind this fantastic event.”
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is on track to host the first IAAF Gold Label city marathon in Africa.
The 42.2km road race has made huge strides since it was relaunched in 2014, quickly establishing its place as one of only a select few marathons in the world to achieve IAAF Gold Label status.
Thabied Majal, Sanlam Emerging Markets (SEM) group executive: corporate affairs and services, said: “We are proud to sponsor the marathon for the fourth consecutive year. The race is Africa’s only IAAF Gold Label marathon. It places this event, the City of Cape Town and our continent on the global stage alongside famous city marathons. These include Boston, New York, Tokyo and London. It also gives athletes from Africa the opportunity to compete against the best long-distance runners on home soil.”
Last year’s winners, Britain’s Tish Jones and Ethiopia’s Asefa Mengstu Negewo, have confirmed they will be back to compete.
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has called on members of the public to nominate people from “all walks of life” that they believe deserve the country’s highest honours, the national orders.
The next national orders awards investiture ceremony will take place in April.
The awards will honour South Africans and eminent foreign nationals who have contributed to the achievement of a free, united, non-racial, democratic, non-sexist and prosperous country in various ways. Citizens who have sacrificed life and limb to save others and those who have excelled in various fields will also be honoured.
The Presidency said, “The selection process of the awards will be processed and administered by the national orders advisory council appointed by the President of the Republic.”
The members of the council are: chairperson Brigitte Mabandla, deputy chairperson Mandla Langa, Dr Glenda Gray, Dr Molefi Oliphant, Dr Lindiwe Mabuza, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, Sally Padayachie, Rev Buti Tlhagale, James Motlatsi, Dr Fazel Randera and Nothembi Mkhwebane
The six awards include: the Order of Mendi recognises South Africans who have performed acts of bravery, Order of Ikhamanga for excellence in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism and sport; Order of the Baobab for contributions to community service, business and economy, science, medicine and technological innovation; Order of Luthuli, which recognises citizens who have contributed to the Struggle for democracy, nation-building, building democracy and human rights, justice and peace, as well as for the resolution of conflict and the Order of Mapungubwe for exceptional achievement to the benefit of South Africa and beyond.
The Order of the Companions of OR Tambo recognises eminent foreign nationals for friendship shown to SA. It is therefore an Order of peace, co-operation and solidarity.
Nominations forms are available at http://bit.ly/2eHfOZF. The Presidency urged those making nominations to attach a short motivation on the person nominated.