South Africa: The Nelson Mandela Municipality is delighted to host this year’s Judo SA Open Championship.
This year’s tournament is taking place at the Nelson Mandela Bay University’s Missionvale Campus.
Speaking at the tournament, the portfolio head for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Cllr Bassie Kamana, welcomed the opportunity for the City to host this year’s national Judo tournament.
“Hosting a tournament of this magnitude will establish the city’s aspirations to become a sports mecca,” said Kamana.
“As a municipality, sports tourism is a priority, and we always welcome it when national events are held in Nelson Mandela Bay,” he said further.
“This plays a significant part in the city’s economic turnaround strategy as it promotes international tourism,” said Kamana.
He went on to add that not only do sports contribute significantly to the City’s economy, but it also acts as a unifier “As we interact with international athletes and tourists, we remove xenophobia and/or Afrophobia, as a result, by bringing in international athletes, we help to create social cohesion,” Cllr. Kamana remarked.
“The National Sport and Recreation Plan refers to the “development of an enabling environment” to help SA Sport achieve its goals of becoming an active and winning nation, as well as to ensure that a number of strategic enablers are in place” he said.
Earlier this week, the City welcomed the Judo Federation of Lower Saxony, Germany.
