Four local Youth Development against Violence through Sport (YDVS) projects in Thembalethu (Ward 15), Pacaltsdorp (Ward 16 and 14) and Uniondale (Ward 25) were subsequently approved. The German Federal Republic has committed R100-million to finance a number of similar kick-about sport projects throughout South Africa. The delegation and all the stakeholders were officially received by the municipal manager, Mr Trevor Botha.
Botha expressed his appreciation for the efforts that were made by the German and South African governments in 2009/10 in the wake of the World Cup Soccer Tournament 2010 to build sport legacy projects in South Africa.
The kick-abouts are aimed at South African youth between 8 and 18 years, boys and girls, across all communities.
The German Delegation was most impressed with the level of this particular project implementation, including the active community involvement. George Municipality and Sum Consultants (National Project Management Unit) has established an excellent working relationship. The South African Government, at the level of Sport Recreation South Africa, (SRSA) remains responsible for the overall management and success of the kick-about projects. This includes multi-coded sport events, rugby, cricket, mini-cricket, netball, volleyball, basketball, tennis, table tennis etc. A total amount of R4 743 000 has been made available to finance the projects thus far.
Additional funds may become available depending on the terms of the addendum agreement of project implementation.
Each project also has a play park to accommodate the needs of small children - in the case of Pacaltsdorp and Uniondale a very welcome addition. The George YDVS projects are in the final stages of completion and the opening ceremony will officially be done by the South African Government and George Municipality in early December 2013, still to be confirmed.
Mr Wolfgang Theis, manager of German Sub Sahara Projects, has stated that 31 March 2014 will be the final date to complete all current kick-about projects in South Africa, including Uniondale, which falls within the George Municipality's jurisdiction area.
Theis added that the German donors want large numbers of children to have daily and regular access to the facilities. This includes both street and schoolchildren. The maintenance and security of these projects also take priority.
Mr Kidron Kaboni, project coordinator and sport official of George Municipality, is confident that George Municipality will honour all obligations and meet all targets.
Botha expressed his overall satisfaction with the level of consultation and co-operation between the municipality, national government and the German donors.
During a visit to Pacaltsdorp are, from left: Jacques Quinot (civil engineer at George Municipality) Wolfgang Theis, Councillor Rassie Erasmus, Stephan Lutz and Jan Durant (consulting engineer).
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