11 Sep 2022

The inaugural Jwaneng mine general manager’s soccer fiesta, which started on Friday evening, has lived up to its expectations.

This is according to the organising committee chairperson, Goitseone Gadifele, in an interview after the main tournament on Saturday.

The three-day tournament started with the mine and council management fixture. Women’s games came next before the main attraction on Saturday featuring Galaxy, Bantu from Lesotho, Debswana Young Stars and Jwaneng Fighters.

“We have definitely achieved what we wanted and we are very happy for the support we got from residents of Jwaneng and surroundings and even beyond. We made an appeal before the fiesta that its success depended on their support and we are happy that they headed our plea,” said Gadifele.

He said it was through such a support that they would hopefully be able to fulfill their objective of raising funds towards the development of sport and the education sector.

“We have not sat down as a committee to see exactly which area of football development to first assist.

We will do that later when we have completed all the logistics, but I can assure the supporters and everybody else that the fiesta will definitely be back next year as we intend,” he said.

Gadifele indicated that in the long run, the intention was to have a football academy in Jwaneng.

Jwaneng mine general manager, Koolatotse Koolatotse, also appreciated support they normally get from the communities around, saying such was visible even during the tough times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also assured supporters of a great future in sports in the area, indicating that they would soon launch sponsorship for women’s regional football league.

“This fiesta is the beginning of great things to come going forward. We want to turn Jwaneng into a sporting hub and this is an effort towards unearthing human diamonds,” Koolatotse said.

In her remarks, Jwaneng Town Council clerk, Ogaufi Molelo, said apart from sports, the fiesta was an economic empowerment activity especially to the small scale business people who operated food stalls.

She also said she was happy that the organisers had focused on the development of women football, which she said was a good empowerment undertaking.

“This is despite the fact that women are doing better in sports such as soccer at national level,” she said and also hailed the event as a much appreciated entertainment for Jwaneng residents to unwind without having to travel long distances.

Jwaneng Galaxy emerged champions of the fiesta and walked away with a P30 000 cheque after overcoming visiting Bantu, who walked away with P25 000.

Jwaneng Fighters were rewarded with P20 000 for position three while Debswana Young stars took home P15 000 for position four.

Still at the fiesta, the national 100m sensation, Letsile Tebogo, who graced the fiesta as a guest, was rewarded with a P50 000 cheque while his coach, Kebonyemodisa Mosimanyana was awarded P10 000. ENDS