Shot in the arm for Gauteng’s Super League teams, more money for Banyana

The Gauteng Provincial government has announced it will provide financial support to teams in the province participating in the Hollywoodbets Super League.  

The province has four teams in the women’s league namely Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies, Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), University of Johannesburg (UJ) and JVW FC.

The funding is aimed at helping the teams to continue their work in the development of female sports.

Premier David Makhura and MEC Mbali Hlophe confirmed the news today in Kagiso during the cheque handover to Banyana Banyana following their successful feat during the WAFCON tournament held in Morocco.

The provincial government provided an additional R1 million bonus to the Banyana Squad in line with the Gauteng government’s celebration of Women in Sports Excellence.

“I would like to say thank you to the premier and MEC of the province for this wonderful contribution and support. This really means a lot to us.

“We know during the tournament we had you on your toes sometimes, but this amazing team knew what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go.

“From the word go, they said they wanted to win it and they stood by their words,” said coach Desiree Ellis.

“We felt your support, messages and all of that even though they had 45 to 50 thousand fans at the stadium we knew back home we had almost 60 million supporters. So we say thank you very much.”

As the premier of the province was delivering his remarks at the celebration of Women in Sports Excellence, he also touched on the issue of Gender Based Violence against women and children.

“As we celebrate Women in Sports Excellence in Kagiso we reflect on the recent sexual assault of eight women in this area a few weeks ago.

“This number represents the experience of many women across the length and breadth of our country.

“We as men must dip our heads in shame. The way we raise our children and the way we relate as parents is the way patriarchy and Gender Based Violence reproduce themselves in our societies.” said Makhura.

On their arrival from Morocco, the Banyana squad was awarded R 5.8 million for their efforts by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. That’s on top of the R 9.2 million from SAFA for winning the tournament.