The province of Mpumalanga has added to its sporting events calendar the 10km and 21km Dr Mathews Phosa Marathon set to take place in February 2024.
The event, also dubbed “The Race for Community Development Activism”, is scheduled for February 24 in Mbombela City in Nelspruit. It will feature a maximum of 5 000 participants.
The race is an initiative by local non-profit organisations in Mpumalanga under a collective called Mpumalanga NPO Association (MNPOA).
Phosa, a veteran of the governing ANC and former premier of the province, committed R100 000 to the group, contributing to the first prize of R500 000 for the winner.
The proceeds would be handed over to social initiatives addressing early childhood development, gender-based violence (GBV), and femicide, as well as the needs of people with disabilities.
In a statement on Wednesday, MNPOA secretary-general Sipho Zitha said the group resolved to identify and honor Mpumalanga leaders from various leadership backgrounds, such as in sport, education and business.
Zitha said Phosa’s name was among those identified as potential first recipients of the honour.
“It was further resolved that the honour in this regard must be an annual event in the form of a marathon, symbolising the hard work, endurance, and resilience he has demonstrated in his various positions of leadership, in particular in sports leadership,” said Zitha.
Speaking to Lowvelder, a publication in Mpumalanga last Thursday, Phosa said when he was approached with the idea of a marathon named after him, he was taken aback and surprised.
“I didn’t expect it. But there it was, and I accepted it in the good spirit in which it had been presented to me,” Mathews Phosa said.
“I think it is a particular honor, and I want to thank them for extending that honour to me. I’m not sure what I’ve done so much to deserve it. I accepted it in good faith.
He continued: “The objectives for which they stand are noble, and it’s not only them, but we want to call on the private sector in this country to join hands and come to the party.”
He said early childhood education is a challenge to society.
“We need to catch them while they’re still young and educate them before they walk into the former class that requires funding.
“If you look at it from the children in the rural areas and in townships, they come from very poor backgrounds. They can hardly afford an Uber or bus to go to that early childhood school.
“We need to find a way of saying how [do] we support communities to have early childhood schools.”
Phosa said back when he was chairman of Absa board, the banking group used to support those types of institutions. “And for me, it’s back to square one. If we can support those institutions, we invest in the future.”
He said GBV is hitting the nation hard.
“Women have been killed by husbands and boyfriends, slaughtered, and brutally injured. Who’s looking? Society must look itself in the mirror … and say: ‘How do we recover the emotional stability and wounds of these victims’?”
Those words are not visible, but their wounds are in the soul and spirit and in the integrity of the person. How do we help them? When the social workers come in, who pays them? You know, the doctors come in, nurses. Who pays them?
“Society needs to be sensitive towards one another and measure our value in what we give, not what we receive – what we give to society”.
Mathews Phosa, also the chairman of the Special Olympics for 19 years since the late Nelson Mandela asked him to chair the body, said his tenure brought him into contact with more than 11 sporting activities that were a challenge to athletes and played by 190 countries in the world, including abled and disabled people.
“We have this organisation that says it will address all disabilities, regardless of whether they are physical or intellectual. They need to be supported.”
He said the first support was from family.
“Without family, they cannot stand. The first is from the mother struggling with a child with autism and making the child feel part of the family.”
He asked: “What support do we give them as a society? Do we shun them and put them behind the doors?
“Do we chase them away from the tables so the visitors don’t see them, or do we take responsibility?”
