BLOEMFONTEIN TO HOST A TWO-DAY RUGBY EXTRAVAGANZA IN MEMORY OF BROADCASTER VUYO MBULI
The Vuyo Mbuli Legacy Project in partnership with Free State Department of Sports Arts Culture and Recreation and the Free State Rugby will on 25 – 26th of September 2015 host a rugby extravaganza for previously disadvantaged learners in Bloemfontein.
The annual VUYO MBULI “SHARP SHARP” RUGBY TOURNAMENT is an initiative to promote development rugby and in particular school rugby in the Free State. The tournament is set in three-fold consisting of a coaching clinic, a knock-out tournament and a commemoration game.
On Friday 25th September at the Old Grey Sport Field the Free State Rugby and the Springbok Legends will conduct a rugby coaching clinic to 200 learners aged 8 – 11 years from various disadvantaged primary schools across the Free State.
There’ll also be a knock-out tournament featuring 8 high school with learners aged between 14 – 18.
The third component will be on Saturday 26th September at the Free State Rugby Stadium. This will be a commemoration game between Toyota Free State Cheetahs and Lions, the game Vuyo died watching at the same stadium in 2013. 200 children will ahead of this game do a commemorative march on the field and will be able to watch the game live after.
All learners participating in the “Sharp Sharp” rugby tournament will be transported from their various schools to the activities and back and will be supervised and catered for.
“The Free State Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation are both proud and privileged to be associated with the Vuyo Mbuli Legacy Project. This event has the potential to grow into one of the largest development events in the country, and we as department are looking forward to a successful and fruitful event.”
Speaking on behalf of the Vuyo Mbuli Legacy Project, Vuyo Mbuli’s daughter Siphosihle Mbuli expressed gratitude to the partners and the sponsors. She said; “My Dad was passionate about development and the advancement of the black child, I’m happy that we can honour him by doing something he believed in”.
“Free State Rugby is excited and honoured to be part of these celebratory events. We look forward to the annual growth of this event and all partnerships formed” says Rory Duncan, the Director of Rugby at the Cheetahs.
The tournament is open to the general public and Free Staters are invited to come and watch the games to support the learners as they battle out in the field.
Tickets for the Toyota Free State Cheetahs vs Lions match are on sale visit www.fscheetahs.co.za/ for more information.
VUYO MBULI “SHARP SHARP” RUGBY TOURNAMENT
It’s been two years and a half years since the country woke up to the shocking news of the passing on of Vuyo Mbuli – one of the most loved and celebrated journalist, cultural icon and sport fanatic.
As news spread of his tragic death in Bloemfontein whilst watching a rugby match, his loss was mourned in different corners of the continent with everyone – young and old from office cleaners, business leaders, members of the foreign diplomatic core, unions to the President of the country reminiscing how Vuyo Mbuli had touched the lives of many people in different ways and how he in his short but productive life taught South Africans the Spirit of Ubuntu, political tolerance and exposure to different cultures.
Vuyo was an ordinary South African who did extra ordinary things. He used his media skills and media platform to educate, entertain, empower, encourage entrepreneurship, promote multilingualism, and harness youth talent across the board.
He had a deep hatred for under development and dispossession that engulfed black communities in South Africa. He saw it as part of his contribution to use the media platform to constructively push and engage Government to act. As anchor of the country’s leading breakfast show Morning Live, he made it his mission to take the programme out of the studio to communities creating a platform for dialogue between communities, government and business. An example of his achievements, in the Eastern Cape’s small coastal town of Port Alfred his intervention brought about change in the delivery of low cost housing for the Thornhill community were 509 housing units were built in a Public Private Partnership between the local municipality and ABSA. This after broadcasting the dire living conditions of communities by the riverbank.
South Africans from different walks of life viewed Vuyo as one of their own. His love for the country, showed by him wearing a South African flag at every broadcast combined with his contribution towards social cohesion and improving the lives of ordinary people made him to be a beacon of hope to some and a source of inspiration to others.
Being inspirational he continued when at his heaviest he qualified for the Comrades Marathon. It is this journey of leading a healthy life-style that saw more black males taking up running having witnessed on screen what it had done to him. He completed 3 Comrades and would have run his fourth one in 2013.
The Annual Rugby tournament being held in Bloemfontein on the 25th & 26th forms part of five activities that are part of the Vuyo Mbuli Legacy Project.
The Vuyo Mbuli Legacy Project was launched in 2015 to pay tribute to the cultural icon and to continue with his legacy of ongoing dialogue between Government, Business and Communities though the various activities that have been planned:
1) Vuyo Mbuli Memorial Lecture
Held on 18 May 2015 (Two years after his passing) for 400 invited guests, which included Government Ministers, MEC’s and Executive Mayors.
2) Vuyo Mbuli Memorial Race
Held on Sunday 24 May with over 2000 runners participating in the 5km and 10km race.
3) O Boso Wena Community Dialogues
Starting on 13 October and being held in four provinces which had links to Vuyo’s life Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Free State and the Northern Cape
13 October being World Thrombosis Day
Information sessions to educate about Pulmonary Embolism
In community halls and rural areas with no internet access
Information sessions being conducted by GEMS
4) Vuyo Mbuli Street
Renaming of a street in his honour in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape
16 of December 2015 on Day of Reconciliation
In partnership with Ndlambe Municipality and Eastern Cape Department of Tourism
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