A councillor in Insiza South has donated soccer kits to two secondary schools and a community team, saying sport can help curb rising social problems affecting young people in the area.
Ward 5 Councillor Ngobe Masonga handed over kits to Siwazi Secondary School, Sidzibe Secondary School and the Sidzibe social soccer team as part of a wider effort to promote youth development and address issues such as alcohol abuse and violence.
Masonga, who describes himself as a lifelong football enthusiast, said the intervention was targeted at Sidzibe, where he believes sport can play a critical role in redirecting young people’s energy.
“I chose Sidzibe because they are very much interested in soccer; they are trying to resuscitate their team,” he said. “There is too much alcohol in Sidzibe and there is violence.”
To support the revival of local sport, Masonga has also allocated land opposite the business centre for the social team to clear and use as a playing field.
“The focus on sports is a deliberate strategy for behaviour change,” he said. “When they spend time on sports, they will move out of all the problems we are facing.”
He added that sport can create positive community spaces, drawing people together for games and offering alternatives to drug and alcohol use.
Other local organisations are contributing to the effort. Sister to Sister, an NGO under the Insiza Godlwayo AIDS Council (IGAC), recently donated netball kits to Sidzibe and Mbaulo.
“We are very happy that we are concentrating on assisting the youths,” Masonga said.
He explained that the soccer kits were sent to him by a friend based in the United Kingdom, and that he decided to distribute them among schools and a local team in his ward. After considering Siwazi, Sidzibe and JZ Moyo High School, he said Siwazi Secondary and Sidzibe had the greatest need.
Masonga said he hopes the donation will inspire pupils to give back to their communities when they grow older.
“When I donate to schools, it motivates them to plough back to the community when they become leaders,” he said. “We need to donate to young children so that they know that a sense of giving is very important.”
He added that the kits would also ease financial pressure on schools, which would no longer need to purchase their own sports uniforms.