September 26, 2005
By Ndaba Dlamini
THOUSANDS of youngsters from the City of Johannesburg's 11 regions gathered at Wembley Sports Complex to participate in the 2005 Joburg Absa Indigenous Games on Friday, 23 September.
The event was hosted by the City's sports and recreation department, in partnership with banking group Absa. Councillor Christine Walters, mayoral committee member for social development, officially opened the games, to a raucous crowd.
"The games are a celebration of our living heritage and I urge you to enjoy yourselves on this occasion," she said.
Walters lit a lamp to symbolise the opening of the games, launched last year on Heritage Day, to the sound of drums from a Zulu traditional dance group from Region 6.
Morabaraba, mmela, diketo and musical chairs competitions were held indoors, while khokho, sack races, tug-of-war, skipping rope and wheelbarrow races were held outside, in the scorching heat.
There was a loud buzz from inside the complex, as the winners sang songs of victory and the vanquished groaned in their despair. A young girl, sitting comfortably on the floor playing diketo, threw a stone up into the air, dexterously removed others from a hole in the middle of a board, and caught the airborne stone, in one slick movement.
The large pile of stones in front of her grew by the second. Her opponent, a smaller pile in front of her, sat glumly watching as defeat became inevitable.
In the centre of the hall, a huge circle of participants played musical chairs, laughing loudly every time there was a scramble for chairs. The person left standing was cheered and waved goodbye by the luckier competitors.
Outside, not even the searing heat could melt the competitive spirit. Dressed in T-shirts in shades of red, blue, orange and yellow, the various players ran and tumbled on the ground as they tried to outplay each other to take home the winners' trophies.
On a basketball field, young boys and girls aged between six and ten hopped and jumped on a skipping rope, shrieks of delight adding to the carnival atmosphere. On the field, older children raced and chased in a game of khokho, all under the watchful eye of the umpire.
A garrulous tug of war was going on at the furthest field, the teams mostly made up of stocky boys and girls who cheered each time a team came tumbling down, beaten by their brawnier opponents.
The battle of the giants in the tug-of-war
Over at the 50m long sack race track, participants in sacks hopped and hobbled and fell over. Those who tried to sprint came tumbling down in a heap, accompanied by shouts of glee from the spectators.
Next to the sack race, another hilarious race was under way - the wheelbarrow race. During this event, blindfolded participants raced their wheelbarrows, with their team mates on board acting as navigators.
One navigator apparently had left his navigational skills at home because his driver kept veering off course and ended up far away from the finishing line.
A group of young girls gathered next to one of the speakers, which was blaring hot house hits. They moved to the music, oblivious to the competitive atmosphere surrounding them.
However, their dancing came to an abrupt end when a games official sent them scattering.
Ten-year-old Sibongile Cele from Region 6 admitted that she was having the best time of her young life. "I will make sure I participate again next year," she said, sipping on one of the water satchets provided by Joburg Water.
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