Team Mpumalanga are not going to add numbers in this year’s National Indigenous Games Festival (NIGF), but is looking forward to improving on last year’s eighthspot finish. The NIGF games will be held for the second successive year in Polokwane.
Sibongile Nkosi, spokesperson for culture, sport and recreation, said they were happy with the team they selected, as they featured a mix of youth and experience. Richard Nkosi Team Mpumalanga at last year’s National Indigenous Games Festival in Polokwane.
They represent the demographics of the province. Team Mpumalanga were selected on July 23 at Badplaas Forever Resorts.
“We are always looking to improve on our standing at the national finals and this year will be no different,” said Nkosi. The NIGF will officially kick off on Saturday and will wrap up next Wednesday. All nine provinces will be represented at the festival. The games that will be played include diketo (coordination game), dibeke (running game), kho kho (running game), morabaraba (board game), incuva (board game), jukskei (target game), kgati (rope-jumping), intonga (stick fighting) and drie stokkies, among others.
Last year, Mpumalanga obtained eighth position overall and KwaZulu-Natal was crowned the overall champions. Team Mpumalanga met at Blyde Canyon Forever Resorts on Tuesday to finalise its battle strategies on how to conquer the other provinces. Tomorrow the team will leave for Polokwane, where they will battle for honour at the six-day tournament.
