KayaFM 67km Relay for Mandela imminent

27 August 2015

 

It’s all systems go for the staging of the KayaFM 67km Relay for Mandela in honour of the internationally revered statesman’s 67 years of struggle for democracy, equality and justice.

 

Previously run in July from the Waterfall Estate to coincide with Mandela’s birth month, the Rosebank-based radio station moved this year’s relay to Sunday September 6 to form part of the City of Johannesburg’s Heritage Month celebrations. The event starts and finishes at the Nasrec Expo Centre, south of Johannesburg. The distance is divided into 10 legs of 6.7km each and teams will run in pairs. About 1 200 teams of 10 participants each are expected to take part.

 

City of Johannesburg’s Events Director, Bongi Mokaba, says the relay allows the City to showcase its solid infrastructure.

 

“It therefore makes perfect sense for us to partner with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and KayaFM. The event also ties in with the City’s Healthy Lifestyle Programme, which encourages residents to be healthy through exercise. The partnership affirms our commitment to being a city where you can work and play,” Mokaba.

 

Also of significance is the fact that the relay race caters for the whole family.

“KayaFM knows the value of family and spending time together,” says Greg Maloka, the radio station’s Managing Director. The new timing is one that will resonate with the Afropolitan, who understands the importance of heritage and roots in shaping one’s future. It also speaks to the theme and tone in the country that in our diversity as Africans we are one.”

 

Proceedings are expected to last six hours. KayaFM DJs will be pumping the music after running their leg of the relay. Last year’s race attracted more than 17 000 participants.

 

Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department’s Senior Superintendent Wayne Minnaar says officers will be deployed along the entire route to ensure participants’ safety.

 

“Our officers will control traffic and ensure that motorists do not obstruct people taking part in the relay, which has become an important event on the City’s calendar,” says Minnaar.

 

Proceeds from the relay will go to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which aims to provide needy schools with library facilities and to preserve Madiba’s historical documents in digital archives. Team captains must collect their team race packs from Nasrec from September 1 to September 4.

 

For more information about the relay, log on to www.kaya67relay.co.za