Mayor Tau gives two Jozi Olympians a great send-off

22 July 2016

 

Gauteng Premier David Makhura, Johannesburg Executive Mayor Cllr Parks Tau and former Bafana Bafana and Everton FC star Steven Pienaar joined the Westbury community on Thursday July 21 to give two local soccer players who will be representing South Africa in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil, a rousing send-off.

 

Mamelodi Sundowns playmaker Keagan Dolly and Tyrone Sandows, who plays alongside Ronaldinho at Porte Allegre in Sao Paulo, Brazil, are part of the Under-23 national team coached by Owen da Gama that will be taking on the world come August. This is the first time that two sports heroes from Westbury, in the City of Johannesburg’s Region B, will represent the country in the Olympics.

In his speech, Premier Makhura wished the two players good luck and reminded them that they were not only representing themselves but also the whole nation. He said they were good role models to their peers, many of whom were involved in drugs and crime.

The Premier said Westbury needed more sports facilities to help the community unearth more talent.

“Sports development is very important to enable us to have more Steven Pienaars, Keagan Dollys and Tyrone Sandowses. If we don’t do that we will see a lot of youngsters getting involved in drugs and committing crime,” he said.

Mayor Tau said Dolly and Sandows were an inspiration to the youth and had made the Westbury community and the city as a whole proud.

“It is appropriate to congratulate the Olympic team for representing South Africa on the global stage. The team will do us all proud and these two players belong to the City and that makes us more proud. We say to them: ‘Go and do well in the Olympics and make us proud South Africans."

“He said Westbury had been one of the areas in Johannesburg that had benefited from the Corridors of Freedom and Jozi@Work programmes.

Mayor Tau added that it was heartening to see that the area had produced two stars who were now going to represent the country on the world stage.

Dolly, the captain of the Under-23 team, said he was proud to give back to the community he grew up in. He said he always looked up to Pienaar and was proud of his achievements.
The Games start on August 5 and run until August 21.