Sisi Ntombela Charity Run to go ahead in City of Roses as organisers raise funds for the needy

As events get cancelled around the country in the wake of another Covid19 wave, one race organiser has decided to forge ahead with their plans. The Sisi Ntombela Charity Run organised by The Free State Health Athletics Club will take place as planned in Bloemfontein tomorrow because its beneficiaries are banking on the initiative to help put food on their Christmas tables.

"We decided to start this race because we noted that our people have gone through a lot of distress, particularly because of high unemployment which has also been exacerbated by this Covid19 pandemic" said Sisi Ntombela Charity Race Project Manager Ernest Moikangoa. "It's important for us as a civil society and as South Africans to put our hands together and assist those that are in need, especially during the most critical time of the festive," he explained.

The Sisi Ntombela Foundation is the brainchild of of Mme Ntombela who is the premier of the Free State province and well known for her community upliftment projects some of which date back to the Apartheid days when she was a teacher and later a health care worker. "The foundation was established by the Premier. Her social community activism propelled her to be what she is today as the number 1 citizen of the Free State. Even before the democratic dispensation she has always been working closely with communities, particularly in her hometown of Tweeling," Moikangoa told #TheTopRunner.

Consisting of a half marathon, 10km and 5km fun run, the event entries for all three distances have been capped at 2000 in order to comply with Covid19 regulations. "It has not been easy to organise this race due to Covid because there's a whole lot of red tape and people are still skeptical about getting infected. But because of systems that we have put in place we are hoping that even post this race there would not be any case of infections as a result of this race," said Moikangoa.

With Bloemfontein Celtic super fan Botha Msila enlisted to galvansie the local community into action, the foundation is confident that the event will be well attended and raise the funds required to support the vulnerable. "Civil society also has a role to play and that's why as a running community we took a decision to run for a cause. Saturday will be special to the beneficiaries that will benefit out of this initiative because it's very important to remember that it takes a village to raise a child," he concluded.