10 Nov 2021

Debonairs Pizza has donated P6 000 towards the second edition of Botsalano Cup Challenge.

The donation was part of the pledges towards the annual tournament held in Francistown every March.

Botsalano cup, a brainchild of Botsalano ward councillor, Ontiretse Bakaile, was started in 2018, but cancelled in the last two years due to COVID-19.

Speaking during the cup’s launch on Monday, Francistown Wes MP, Ignatius Moswaane, said sports was beneficial in many ways.  

He explained that apart from creating employment and fighting poverty, sports had power to unite people and control their emotional wellbeing.

“It encourages patience, dedication, commitment, working together and respect for authority,” he added.  

Moswaane advised the youth to take advantage of sports as a vehicle to fight unemployment amongst themselves.

He thanked Councillor Bakaile to have seen it worthy to promote sport in the country, adding that people of Bokaile’s calibre must be supported for being visionary leaders.

“I want to raise over P50 000 by the time we will be hosting this tournament next year March,” Bakaile added.

He said the tournament was strictly for the youth of Botsalano ward.

The tournament features football and netball.

The price money for first position in each code is P3 000, while second and third position will bag P1 500 and P1 000 respectively.

However, Bakaile raised a concern that the number of netball teams continued to decline.

Meanwhile, Debonairs regional general manager, Taurai Hove, said the P6 000 donation was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility (SCR).

Hove said it was not Debonairs’s first donation as the company had made similar donations in the past.

He explained that in donating, Debonairs focused on various groups such as the youth, the poor, the underprivileged, orphans as well as stationary and uniforms.

“We donated to Botsalano Cup because we are supporting the youth, which is one of our focus groups,” he added.

He said the shop also partnered with local authorities.

Hove said the shop would continue to donate. He appealed to the business community and individuals to come aboard and support Botsalano challenge.

Tatitown Customary Court President, Kgosi Chama Montshiwa underscored the importance of sports in unifying people.

She applauded Bakaile for promoting sports, adding that organising a tournament was tedious and required commitment and funding.
Kgosi Montshiwa said tournaments provided a platform for identifying talent and encouraged participants to value such opportunities.

Botsalano chairperson, Tumisang Makhamisa, said the objective of the tournament was to unite people especially residents of Botsalano ward and to keep the youth out of wrong doings.

She told the audience that registration for taking part in the tournament was open and that it was free. ENDS