Municipal workers switched office chairs for a jostle on the greens when they competed to be crowned winners of the Internal–Municipal Sports of South Africa (IMSSA) hosted by Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM). The inaugural games gave municipalities in the Eastern Cape the chance to compete at the Southern Africa Inter-Municipal Sports Association (SAIMSA).
“We are promoting health and wellness. A healthy mind, a healthy body” said Sibusiso Mvana, acting mayor for Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality. About the importance of hosting the games he said, “There are economic benefits to hosting these games. Those who are here over the weekend will be spending and injecting into the local economy. Moreover, this is for the wellness of employees. We are glad that employees and spectators are focussed on something positive over the weekend.”
Enoch Mgijima were hosting as a local municipality under CHDM and neither municipality covered itself in glory when they only managed two gold medal between them.
In the five codes played (soccer, netball, volleyball, table tennis and table pool) CHDM only managed a good showing in the table tennis, taking the finals for both men and women.
Buffalo City Metro (BCM) – who were crowned champions of the SAIMSA games last year in Swaziland – proved their mettle again when they dominated the competition as overall champions with most medals.
The other municipalities that participated in the games were Nelson Mandela Bay, OR Tambo, Ngcobo, Ntabankulu, Alfred Nzo, Amathole, King Sabatha Dalindyebo, Mbashe, Mquma, Ngcobo and Intsika Yethu.
Matebese Thandi, chairperson of IMSSA Eastern Cape said they were happy with the way the weekend went and the participation by the municipalities. “This is the first time these games have been played at regional level. We checked which municipalities were most active at SAIMSA and the Chris Hani region was lagging behind. We wanted them to get involved for service delivery and wellness purposes. When employees are healthy they are able to provide good quality service to the people they serve.”
The games were played at Dumpy Adams and Thobi Kula Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday and Sunday. The overall standings on Sunday were; Amathole won the volleyball final against BCM, Alfred Nzo beat BCM at table pool, BCM beat Alfred Nzo in the netball final and dispatched OR Tambo in the soccer final. Amathole also took the table tennis men’s final while BCM took the ladies’, both doubles finals were won by CHDM.
