September 22, 2005
By Lucky Sindane
THINK twice before you throw out your old pantihose - they might be needed to play legusha.
Legusha (or a game of tying elastics around two girls' legs, with a third girl jumping over the elastics) is just one of the games that will be played at the 2005 Joburg Absa Indigenous Games on Friday, 23 September.
The event is being hosted by the City's sports and recreation department in partnership with banking group Absa, and will take place at the Wembley Sports Complex in Turffontein from 9am to 4pm.
"The 2005 Joburg Absa Indigenous Games are aimed at celebrating our living heritage by bringing young and old generations together, so as to take pride in our games and promote the African renaissance," says the City's area manager for Region 5's department of sport and recreation, Karabo Semenya.
There had been an overwhelming response to the Indigenous Games, which were launched on Heritage Day last year, she says. "Communities have embraced [their] rebirth."
This is the second year the City of Johannesburg is hosting the games. "We expect to see this initiative remain as part of our present heritage, so that we don't have to 'revive' it in another 100 years to come," Semenya adds.
Games that will be played include dibeke, diketo, kgati, khokho, juskei, sack race, tug of war, morabaraba, mmela, dithini, needle, thread, wheelbarrow race and stick fighting, as well as new games like legusha and musical chairs.
There are two parts to the Joburg Absa Indigenous Games; the first took place on Saturday, 17 September at regional level, involving the various wards in each region. The main event, on Friday, will be at city level. All the winners from all the regions will compete.
Combined, both events involve 17 000 participants.
Moshe More, Absa's general manager of government relations and corporate social investment, explains the importance of the games. "While not discounting the recently more popular sports - soccer, rugby and cricket - it is about reminding the youth of today of the games that our forefathers used to play, which form a rich part of our upbringing and our tradition, the very thing that sets us apart from the rest of world."
Marimba and brass bands will calm participants' nerves with their true South African rhythm.
"Last year's Joburg Indigenous Games succeeded in reviving these games in the city, and 58 of the participants were selected for the Joburg team that represented the city at the Gauteng Provincial Games, held in Ekhululeni on 29 July," Semenya says.
"Eight dibeke participants from the city proved to be the best in the country by bringing [home] gold medals from the second National Indigenous Games Festival held on 2 and 3 September in Oudtshoorn, in Western Cape."
She says Joburg will continue to celebrate and promote these games to ensure that they are passed from one generation to the next.
The games' objectives are for communities to play together, while young people are given an opportunity to enhance their careers in coaching, officiating and administering a sports event.
Tertiary institutions will observe their internship students applying practical experience in event management, and at the same time the indigenous games educational curriculum will be enhanced.
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