The Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, wants all major sporting and musical events to be hosted in the province. It started with the Nedbank Cup final which was held at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria last week. Orlando Pirates won the tournament after defeating Sekhukhune 2-1.
Bafana Bafana will follow suite when they welcome 2022 Fifa World Cup semi-finalists Morocco in the 2023 Afcon qualifiers. This high-profile match will be held at the FNB Stadium on June 17. Lesufi’s has been involved in the Nedbank Cup since the build up to the semi-final which was contested by Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
The former MEC for education mentioned that had he been in the Premier’s office in time, he would have chased for the country’s economic hub to get the 2023 Netball World Cup. Cape Town won the rights to host the tournament that will take place in July/August.
“We must share the cake but the best must come to Gauteng. We do not want to take over and take everything – we are willing to throw our expertise and our skills and contact to ensure that we bring these games to our province. For instance, if we have these tournaments in Cape Town, the accommodation and travelling comes with huge costs and some of the supporters cannot afford. We are not eliminating other provinces, we are saying, bring it on,” said Lesufi.
“The competition is here, we are here – there were seven years when we were sleeping. Cape Town were lucky they got the 2023 Netball World Cup before I got this position (Premier). You must remember that the bid for the Netball World Cup was done before our arrival, if we were there, that world cup would be taking place in Gauteng. We would have gone all out to grab it. But there are other tournaments that are coming, we are ready. It is not only about sports, but we are also ready in the arts and music events because we believe Gauteng has the facilities to host these big events.
“The Nedbank was our first huge test. We believe we can make it and we can attract more events to come to Gauteng. It assists many people, those who are selling next to the stadiums, it’s our passion and we are bringing these games for them. We can change the economy and make sure it goes back to the pre covid-19 era so that people parking cars and selling food can continue to make a living,” he added.
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