THE JACOB ZUMA FOUNDATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SANLAM KAY MOTSEPE FOUNDATION TO STAGE THE MSHOLOZI CUP

HIS EXCELLENCY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, MR JG. ZUMA, SANLAM AND THE MOTSEPE FOUNDATION WILL ONCE AGAIN SPONSOR THE ANNUAL MSHOLOZI SOCCER TOURNAMENT

The fifth annual Msholozi Soccer Tournament takes place at Eshowe High School on 20^th and 21^st December 2013.  The tournament involves eight under-15 boys soccer teams from the uThungulu, uMkhanyakude, Zululand and host SAFA regions and is hosted by the Jacob G Zuma Foundation in partnership with Sanlam and the Motsepe Foundation.

Its founder and patron is President Jacob Zuma who initiated the event in line with his vision of using sport to achieve peace, social cohesion and youth development, especially in the rural areas of South Africa.

The idea behind the event it is to keep the youth in rural areas engaged in healthy activity while at the same time unearthing the great talent that is hidden in these areas. It is the Foundations’ intention to extend the participation in this tournament to the entire province and eventually the whole country.

“I am a firm believer in the role of sport in keeping youngsters disciplined,” said President Zuma, “Through this initiative we also hope to develop talent for possible national teams. Ultimately we would like to build sports academies in rural areas.”

Each of the SAFA regions will hold their own elimination process to source the two teams that will represent them in the Msholozi Cup. The teams will be divided into two groups of four teams each.  On the first day they will play a round robin format with the top two teams going on to play in the semi final the following day.

There are negotiations underway to have the Mamelodi Sundowns Legends play against opponents, still to be confirmed, as a curtain-raiser to the final game.

Patrons of JZ foundation as well as members of the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam will be present on the second day, as well as representatives from government, SAFA and Mamelodi Sundowns management, technical team and players.

Talent identification scouts from the professional clubs will be invited on both days to run their eye over the available talent.

Mamelodi Sundowns president, Patrice Motsepe said he would like to see the concept of this tournament spread to other rural areas around the country. "There can never be too many soccer tournaments around the country.  We have a wealth of talent at youth level and these are our future soccer heroes.  It is important to get them as young as possible to nurture and build good habits so that we will one day be seen as one of the top soccer nations.”