Kathorus communities celebrate June 16
Various organisations in the Kathorus area commemorated the 1976 June 16 student uprising by hosting events that comprised different sports activities on June 16 and 17.
Madibeng Funeral Parlour, based in Thokoza, and other organisations held an anti-drug and crime event in Thokoza on June 16.
The event had sports activities, which included a 6km run and walk, netball games, aerobics and a six-a-side street soccer match.
According to Madibeng Funeral Parlour employee, Joseph Titi, they hosted the event to combat drug abuse and crime.
“We are hosting this event because it is a day dedicated to the youth. We aim to encourage the youth to focus on positive activities in their communities rather than the bad ones.
“Today, we are spreading the anti-drug and crime message with the sports games we have included in our event. Drugs and crime are problematic issues we have in our community, and we are doing everything to tackle them,” Titi explained.
He mentioned they also want to familiarise young people with the Medibang Edu-Centre, which equips young people with skills that make them employable.
“It is accredited with Teta and Seta,” he added.
In another June 16 event, the group known as the Vosloorus Societies United, in partnership with other organisations, held a function engaging the youth in indigenous sporting games. The group also operated a special class to teach interested youth English and how to spell.
Kethabile Letsoela said they officially launched the newly formed Vosloorus Societies United.
“This will be the umbrella body of all the societies in Vosloorus, so we thought it was a good idea to launch it on this special day,” Letsoela explained.
He said other societies in Vosloorus who want to join the umbrella body of the societies, can call Nhlanhla Yende on 083 401 7124.
Members of the Groundbreakers Foundation for young people performed the late Mbogeni Ngema’s famous Sarafina musical play in celebration of June 16.
They also had a netball tournament, played over two days on June 16 and 17.
On June 17, Marimba Gardens Neighborhood Watch Patrollers (MGNWP) and other stakeholders held a sport-orientated event to commemorate the 1976 June 16 uprising.
According to a member of MGNWP, Papi Nkoane, they celebrated the day by addressing the social ills in their community while also uniting the community.
“We have an issue of substance abuse and crime in our community and by rolling out this event, we attempt to eradicate those issues.
“As the MGNWP, we are keen on sparking change in our community and before we hosted this event, we initiated skills development programs,” Nkoane stated.
He said they would organise more events of this calibre in the future.
“We aim to improve our community and the youth.
“We also would like to send our condolences to the family of our late member Sipho ‘Ola there’ Ndlovu,” Nkoane concluded.
