DHL Western Province to do their 67 Minutes ‘with’ Mandela
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Loading...DHL Western Province will do their 67 Minutes for Mandela on Friday, July 17 at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre – where the late Nelson Mandela spent his final months in prison before his release in February 1990.
A DHL WP Absa Currie Cup XV will be playing a friendly match at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre Sports Grounds on Saturday (kick-off 16h15), but the team will be helping out with a coaching clinic a day before in honour of South Africa’s first democratically elected President, who passed in 2013 – his legacy, of course, continuing to live on as the undisputed ‘Father of our Nation’.
In conjunction with the WP Rugby Football Union’s very own coaching department – all of whom are BokSmart accredited – those DHL WP XV players involved in Saturday’s match will assist some inmates, children and community teams from Franschhoek, Simondium and Allendale Rugby Football Clubs at Friday’s coaching clinic.
The Allendale Rugby Football Club is made up of inmates from Drakenstein Correctional Centre, as well as officials from the prison, a proud WPRFU-affiliated club which has been rewarded for its excellent work off the field and one of the best disciplined clubs in the union (on the field).
Of course, the Franschhoek RFC recently suffered a terrible tragedy, when players and supporters lost their lives in a bus accident. For that reason, Saturday’s match is being co-hosted by them and the Drakenstein Correctional Centre.
The children present, meanwhile, are those of the Drakenstein prison officials and everyone is looking forward to meeting their WP Rugby heroes – including Springbok skipper Jean de Villiers, who is expected to play in Saturday’s match as part of his comeback from a serious knee injury.
WPRFU President, Mr Thelo Wakefield, told the www.wprugby.com website: “I could not think of a better venue to spend our 67 Minutes for Mandela than the Drakenstein Correctional Centre.
“We, at the WPRFU and in conjunction with the Sport Implementation Foundation, have been heavily involved with the Drakenstein Rugby Development Project – since 2012 – offering coaching sessions, refereeing and rugby administration training, as well as attending lifeskills programmes – some of which I have headed up myself.
“Friday is all about making a difference to others and hopefully we can help, in some small way, to make a difference in honour of Nelson Mandela.”
The coaching clinic will last for an hour on Friday, before the DHL WP team will be given a tour of Nelson Mandela’s residence at the former Victor Verster Prison to take them up to – and past – their 67 minutes.
Mr Wakefield added: “I would like to thank the Drakenstein Correctional Centre for hosting us on Saturday, in what should be a grand occasion, but we look forward to first contributing (further) during our 67 Minutes for Mandela on Friday.”
Tickets for Saturday’s friendly match – at R30 for adults, with kids (under the age of 14) getting in at no additional cost – can be purchased from the Drakenstein Correctional Centre on Friday (10h00 to 15h00) and on Saturday (09h00 until kick-off).
They are also available at the Andre du Toit Projects offices (8 De Wet Street, Franschhoek), Vee’s Video and The Photolab (also in Franschhoek).
The DHL Western Province XV will be announced by lunch-time on Thursday.
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