Category Archives: Sport

Sport

CPUT boxer wins international debut

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A CPUT student, who has defended his Western Cape boxing title three times, has won an international match against an Irish boxer during the Open Boxing International Club Tournament.

Mabhuti Maseti, a second-year Maths Technology student, beat his Irish counterpart, Michael Duggan, on points to walk away with a gold medal.

The tournament was held at Vibrant Sport Studio in Ottery recently, and pitted a selection of Western Cape boxers against boxers from Munster in Ireland.

“I am very excited about the win as this was my first international fight which I have now won,” said the province’s lightweight champion.

Mabhuti is now preparing to take part in the upcoming Western Cape boxing tournament in May, which will pave the way for him to challenge for national honours.

“I want to challenge for South African championship now, I believe I’m ready for it since I have successfully defended my provincial title thrice since winning it in 2016.”

The inter-club tournament was sponsored by the South African National Boxing Organization, Western Cape Boxing, Native Unit Volition and Vibrant Sport.

Vuyani Mtshikana, CPUT Boxing Manager, commended Mabhuti’s world- class performance and said that during the event a relationship between the two countries was made formal.

“It was a very exciting boxing night for all the boxers and the visitors alike. Our boxers had a taste of the international boxing and have learnt a lot from our visitors,” added Mtshikana.

He thanked the Sport Department and the Marketing and Communication Department for their support to the boxing club.

Varsity Shield captain ready to lead

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He started playing rugby at a small farm school in the Overberg and now Henrico Jacobs is leading CPUT’s rugby team in the prestigious Varsity Shield competition.

Jacobs, a BTech Retail Management Student, says he was “stoked” when he was selected as the captain of the FNB CPUT side, who played their first home game in Wellington on February 26.

“I started playing rugby when I was about six years old at Stettyn Primary School, which is situated on a small farm,” says Jacobs, who hails from Grabouw.

He was a member of the CPUT rugby team who made their debut in the competition in 2017 and says this year’s team has been tirelessly preparing for their matches.

“We urge the CPUT community to come out in their numbers to support us. It’s the supporters that make the team. Bring everyone you know to the games.”

Varsity Shield is played in round robin format while the final games will be knockouts.

Last year’s competition was won by UWC who beat Fort Hare in the final.

 

Athletic star shines in Belgium

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A CPUT athlete has just returned from an international meeting in Belgium where he won the 5 000m race and came third in the 3 000m steeplechase.

Siboniso Soldaka, a third-year student in the Department of Business and Information Administration, ran some of his personal best times and improved on his performances from the previous year.

He was taking part in the 53rd International Antwerp Athletics Gala and the Memorial Jos Verstockt in Belgium.

“I ran my new personal best of 08:45.70 in the 3 000m steeplechase, my previous best was 08:55. I won the 5 000m with a new personal best of 14:12.13, I was hoping to run under 14 minutes, but the wind was blowing so strong,” says the senior men’s Western Province cross country team member.

Now he is turning his focus to preparing for the new track season and hopes to run quick times so that he can qualify for the IAAF World Indoor Championships next year in Birmingham and the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

During the recent meetings he ran qualifying times for the World Student Championship and stood a good chance to be selected by University Sports South Africa to represent the country, but due to lack of funding he could not compete in other major championships in South Africa in order to make the team.

“It is very encouraging for an athlete to receive some support, even if it’s a pair of running shoes, it motivates you to perform well for the club.”

More recently, Siboniso also came second during the Western Cape’s cross country champs.

Athlete wins big at World Transplant Games

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First year Management student Martinique Du Preez raked in four medals at the recent World Transplant Games in Malaga, Spain, including a gold in ball throw.

Besides the gold medal, Martinique also won silver medals in javelin and long jump as well as bronze in the 100 m sprint.

He defied a major obstacle to make his dream a reality after falling ill three weeks before leaving South Africa for the tournament.

“The fact that I could just participate in the World Transplant Games, was a major achievement,” he says.

“A lot of hard work and sweat went into making that dream a reality; it was truly an honour.”

Martinique had to prepare mentally and physically to win the medals in his sports codes.

“Training was and is still a daily thing; ball throw comes naturally as I was born in a rural area.”

He says ball throw was a breeze, so he already knew he would bring back the gold.

“I was out of action the last three weeks before I left. For an able or differently-abled athlete that’s bad but for a transplant athlete it’s disastrous because my chronic medication breaks muscles down, so three weeks is literally a year.”

Martinique was once dubbed the Miracle Boy by surgeons at Groote Schuur Hospital because he beat the odds to receive not one but two kidneys.

He would like to encourage his fellow students to register as organ donors.

 

Life skills through sailing

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The Department of Student Affairs (DSA) has introduced a Learn to Sail programme, which equips students with a set of life skills while enjoying sailing.

Students learn skills such as diversity management as everyone on the boat is equal, the importance of teamwork, discipline, commitment, communication, time management and dealing with stressful situations from the programme for free.

“Your needs and desires are secondary to those of the group – as a group you have to navigate the boat to safety regardless of the weather or swell of the dunes,” says Student Development Officer Anette Grobler.

The programme, which is made possible by SA Sailing Western Cape, Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs, the Sailing Academy, the Royal Cape Yacht club and DSA, started recently at the Royal Cape Yacht club with 18 students from all CPUT campuses.

It will continue until October and will resume in January next year and each programme lasts for five weeks.

Training takes place on Sundays.

“Currently, CPUT is the only university that offers this programme to its students,” adds Grobler.

In order to take part in the programme students must be able to swim. If not, they will still be trained in the art of sailing, but their training will mostly be focussed on the important role a person working on the “bridge” plays.

Later this year, part of this programme will also include a “Learn to Swim” phase.

Students must attend at least four of the five Sunday sessions in order to receive a certificate at the programme’s graduation ceremony.

Students are transported to the yacht club and the bus from Cape Town campus will depart from the Admin Building at 09:30, while on the Bellville campus it will depart at 09:00 from the parking area in front of the New Library building.

 

Star athlete needs a helping hand

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A budding CPUT athlete is raising funds to fulfil his dream of qualifying for the IAAF World Athletics Championships in London and the World Students Track and Field Championships in Taipei, China.

Siboniso Soldaka, a third-year student in the Department of Business and Information Administration, represented both the Western Cape Province and the country successfully in 2016.

After winning a bronze medal at the USSA National Championships last year, Siboniso booked a spot in the CUCSA Games in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where he went on to win the silver medal in the 1500m.

He also ran the fastest time for the10km race in the Western Cape as he was the only athlete to finish the distance under 30 minutes.

“I am raising funds for my trip to Europe in June to go and compete against the best athletes in the world so that I may run some good times and qualify for the World IAAF Championships and the World Student Championship that will both take place in August,” says the tenacious athlete.

“I am trying to raise R12 000 so that I can be able to book my flights and pay for accommodation.”

He wants to join a small group of athletes who are travelling to Europe in June to compete on the international circuit with the aim to run fast times that will qualify him for the world championships.

 

Despite the lack of sponsorship, Siboniso is grateful for the financial support he receives from Annelie Swarts, CPUT’s Student Sports Administrator, and his coach Sean Snyman, who on various occasions paid out of their own pockets for him to compete outside the province.

 

For more information contact Annelie Swarts on 0214603740 or swartsa@cput.ac.za

 

CPUT Rugby Team inspires little ones

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The importance of sport and higher education was the focus of a recent visit to a shelter for abused children by CPUT’s Rugby team.

This year the CPUT team participated in the FNB Varsity Shield presented by Steinhoff International tournament for the first time and part of its involvement included a social awareness programme which required the sportsmen to form a long term relationship with a community organisation.

The rugby team partnered with CPUT’s Civic Engagement Unit to ensure that the relationship was formalised and continues in a sustainable way for both parties.

In April the team visited the Nonceba Community Centre in Khayelitsha where they handed over a cheque for R15 000 which had been donated by FNB.

CPUT Rugby team manager Theo Ngqwala says it wasn’t just the children who benefited.

“There were players who have never seen this before, children in a shelter, it touched them,” he says.

Manager: Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Units, Jacqui Scheepers, says the shelter visit will be the first of many for her unit and she looks forward to many more CPUT departments getting involved in changing lives.

“This Civic Engagement project is a collaborative one with the Student Affairs Department and shows that institutional departments and units can work together to make a positive impact in communities,” she says.

Social Worker Supervisor at Nonceba, Nozuko Conjwa, says CPUT’s involvement was about more than just money, it also opened the youngster’s eyes to new possibilities.

“We will be able to motivate them to get them to consider tertiary education and explore their dreams. Linking sport to education is a bizarre concept for us but to be successful you need to link both, to achieve their social life and their education,” she says.

Transplant Athlete needs a sporting chance

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This first year Management student looks the picture of health but one glance at his toned stomach reveals the scars of over 25 operations.

Martinique Du Preez was once dubbed the Miracle Boy by surgeons at Groote Schuur Hospital because he beat the odds to receive not one but two kidneys. His miraculous story is even more special because he then went on to earn his place on the South African Transplant Games team and last year broke five SA Transplant records in one day.

Martinique says he astounded even himself when he broke those records at the Transplant National Games. The sporting codes he broke are 100m sprint, 200m sprint, javelin, long jump and ball throw.

“I just went to enjoy myself and as I kept breaking the records I felt that it couldn’t be me doing these things,” he says.

“It was even more surprising because in the past I have struggled to qualify for the team.”

Martinique says the standards for Transplant Athletes are equally stringent to that of regular ones.

“The standards are always high whether you are a transplant or paraplegic athlete. So the athletes you see at these games are the best of the best,” he says.

Martinique was diagnosed with end stage kidney failure when he was 13 years old. He received his first kidney donation from his mother however that organ was rejected after only six hours.  The likelihood of finding a second suitable donor was slim because of his rare blood type AB+. Then news came that he was a match for a donor kidney from a young man his age who was fatally shot on the Cape Flats.

Martinique is now raising funds to attend the World Transplant Games to be held in Malaga Spain in June.

 

Wellington Trolley Dash

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Trolley dashes are not for the fainthearted.

It requires speed and very good maneuvering skills.

A Wellington Campus tradition, the annual trolley dash sees students participate in a quarter-mile race, all the while pushing a fellow student in a decorated trolley. Organised by the Wellington Student Representative Council (SRC), the event is one of the highlights of the first semester at the campus.

And this year was no different, with hundreds of students turning up to support those daring enough to compete in the event.

Treasurer of the SRC, Madry Kraff, who organized the event, says the trolley dash is not just about speed and the ability to maneuver a trolley, but requires students to tap into their creative skills. This year each team was assigned a theme, which included the wild west, alien invasion, glitz and glamour, supersport and movie marathon.

Madry says students did not disappoint, coming up with creative trolley decorations, with teams also dressing up to match their trolleys.

Female students who reside in the House Meiring Residence picked the theme movie marathon and inspired by the popular Despicable Me franchise, opted to convert their trolley into a minion.

Male students from the House Navarre Residence showed off in a trolley that was converted into an army fighter jet, while their counterparts from House Wouter Malan draw inspiration from the glitzy Bentley motor car.

SRC member Pieter Lammert, who is responsible for projects and community development, says the event, which provides students with opportunity to have some fun, was a huge success.

Pieter says various other events are planned for the year, with a number of them aimed at providing students the opportunity to interact with one another as well as participate in projects that will benefit the surrounding community.

Players that rock

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CPUT students and staff members came out in force to #backourboytjies for the university’s inaugural match in the FNB Varsity Shield presented by Steinhoff International.

Students, in their blue supporters T-shirts, travelled from far and wide for the Cape Derby to support the team as they squared off against our neighbours UWC yesterday.

The match was broadcast live on Supersport 1 and was a nail biting affair with FNB UWC ultimately winning the Cape Derby by a slim margin of 26 to 23.

Commentators commended the resilience of the CPUT team as they ably squared up to the experienced UWC squad, who were favourites to win after making it into the finals last year.

CPUTs fighting spirit was awarded when Christiaan Smit won the Player that Rocks award.

The match was closely analysed by Head of Western Province Rugby Thelo Wakefield and Currie Cup coach John Dobson who took time out of their busy schedules to meet the CPUT team a few hours before kick-off to do a jersey handover and pep talk.

Wakefield told the team that Western Province Rugby would be partnering with the CPUT team to transfer some of the extensive knowledge they had.

“You worked hard to be the owner of that jersey for 80 minutes. We came here to support you because we believe in you,” he told the team.

Dobson commended the support from CPUT management saying the backing from the top is critical for the future success of rugby at the institution.

“For the first time you have broken into this competition so you have nothing to lose and everything to win.”

To view the fixtures and results go to:http://varsitycup.co.za/varsity-shield-fixtures/

See more photos on our Facebook album

Written by Ilse Fredericks