KZN Cabinet applauds Comrades Marathon winners
KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Willies Mchunu, and members of the Provincial Executive Council (Cabinet) have applauded the effort and determination of two KwaZulu-Natal athletes who finished tops in this year’s Comrades Marathon.
Three times Comrades winner Bongmusa Mthembu and Fikile Mbuthuma - who finished 12th overall in the female category and first KZN female finisher - were received by Cabinet at its sitting in Pietermaritzburg this morning, 20 June 2018.
The two athletes are receiving support from the KZN Department of Sport and Recreation’s Elite Athlete Development Programme (EADP) that is based at the Prime Human Performance Institute at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium.
“On behalf of the Executive Council and the Government of KwaZulu-Natal I wish to sincerely congratulate those who won in the Comrades Marathon and made us proud as KwaZulu-Natal and beyond. Especially, for Bongmusa, you have made a mark that is unprecedented because it is the first time that an athlete from KwaZulu-Natal has achieved what you have accomplished,” said Premier Mchunu.
“To Fikile, you may not have been number one but being close to the top 10 gives us confidence that with a little bit of effort and assistance you can achieve more,” he said.
MEC for Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation, Bongi Sithole-Moloi, said the Department of Sport and Recreation will continue to support the Province’s top athletes and to unearth more talent, especially from rural areas and townships. Mthembu and Mbuthuma are from rural areas of Bulwer and Harding, respectively.
Both athletes were grateful for the recognition they received from the Provincial Government leadership.