Ngumbela gives rural cricket a shot in the arm

The 27th annual Ngumbela Cricket Tournament final played at Healdtown outside Fort Beaufort has been hailed as the biggest yet since the launch of the competition in 1989.

Tournament founder, sport philanthropist Mthetheleli Ngumbela, described the continued success of the event as a dream-come-true after years of sweat and toil criss-crossing the country with begging bowl in hand.

The outspoken Ngumbela, however, took a swipe at government on the sidelines of the final for being “all talk and no action” when it came to sport infrastructure and development in rural areas.

The provincial government was represented by MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Pemmy Majodina at the tournament.

Ngumbela warned government against misusing the popular siyaqhuba, asimanga trademark which he had coined saying it was misleading the people.

“They are saying bayaqhuba (they are moving forward), that is a lie they must stop spreading because ndim ndedwa oqhubayo (I am the only one moving forward in rural sport development) while they are standing still and playing hide-and-seek while there is no development of rural sport and infrastructure,” Ngumbela said.

Majodina swiftly came to her department’s defence, saying it was not their responsibility to build sport facilities but municipalities.

But Ngumbela was having none of it. He said: “That is what they are good at, playing blame games and shifting the goal-posts all the time.

“I am not interested in government’s help anymore because I tried for more than 10 years without success and I built the Ngumbela Park with money from my own pocket.

“With that I am proud to say you will not see anything like this in any rural area in South Africa and cricket is alive in this part of the country because of my efforts,” Ngumbela said.

Majodina, along with other sport dignitaries who attended the final, including former national minister of sport Ngconde Balfour and SA Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Gideon Sam, agreed Ngumbela should besupported by government, business and communities when it came to his sport development initiatives.

Majodina said the Ngumbela rural sport development empire should be integrated into her department’s Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to ensure it was sustainability for many more years to come.

“Our view is that when the government funds community initiatives, there must be guaranteed embracing, participation and preservation by community members.”

Cricket SA (CSA) donated R150 000 to the tournament and cricket equipment worth an undisclosed amount.

CSA’s Max Jordan said the only way to sustain the tournament was for Ngumbela, government and the CSA to consolidate their efforts.

The final was won by Healdtown Tyotyorha Hard Catch who thumped 5 Great Powers of Alice by 79 runs.

Great Powers had no one but themselves to blame by electing to do field first after winning the toss.

Hard Catch scored 255 runs after being sent it and it was evident Great Powers were going to find it difficult to chase the score, when their first three batsmen were out before making a combined 50 runs.

Powers’ Vuyisa Makhaphela held the fort until the very last ball of the 50th over, taking his side’s tally to 176. His well-deserved century was unfortunately not enough to steer the Alice outfit to what would have been one of the most incredible comebacks yet in domestic cricket.