King Cetshwayo reign as 2017 Indigenous Games Champs
King Cetshwayo District has been crowned overall champions of the 2017 KwaZulu-Natal Indigenous Games after beating other districts during the provincial games in Ladysmith this weekend.
The Games took place on 11th-12th August at the Kandahar sports grounds in Ladysmith, in northern KwaZulu-Natal. King Cetshwayo collected a total of 22 overall points followed by Umgungundlovu District with 17 points and third spot went to eThekwini Metro with 16 points.
The Games were a highly contested affair as all 11 KZN districts went head-to-head, fighting for the number one spot in the different IGs codes, such as: rope skipping (ingqathu), stick fighting (induku), drie stokkies, khokho, dibeke, juskei, amagende (stones) and the board games of umlabalaba and incuva.
Thobile Gumede, an Induku player from the Umkhanyakude District shared her sentiments about her overall experience of the 2017 Indigenous Games: “I feel very excited and honoured that I was selected to represent my district, it is not every day that one is afforded such an opportunity and I am very grateful for the chance I got.”
Manqoba Ngwenya from the Umgungundlovu District also expressed great satisfaction with the Indigenous Games improvements compared to the previous years. He urged the youth to participate in these games such as umlabalaba, because there is a lot to gain from them.
“Last year I went to the international Indigenous Games which were held in Indonesia, and I can say that my dream came into fruition,” he said.
A team that will represent KZN at the National Indigenous Games, which will be held in Limpopo during September this year, will be finalised at a training camp to be held later this month.
1st King Cetshwayo Distict (22 points)
2nd Umgungundlovu District (17 points)
3rd EThekwini Metro (16 points)
4th Amajuba District (12 points)
5th. Umkhanyakude District (7 points)
Results per code
Umlabalaba
1. UMgungundlovu
2. UMkhanyakude
3. Amajuba
Drie Stokkies
1. Amajuba
2. UMkhanyakude
3. Harry Gwala
Ingqathu
1. EThekwini
2. King Cetshwayo
3. Umkhanyakude
Induku
1. King Cetshwayo
2. Amajuba
3. Umkhanyakude
Juskei (Elite)
1. Ugu
2. Amajuba
3. Umzinyathi
(Development)
1. EThekwini
2. Harry Gwala
3. Ugu