The North West Department of Education MEC, Viola Motsumi together with the MEC of Sports and Recreation, Galebekwe Tlhapi are attending the Special Olympics Winter Games in Turin, Italy. The Olympics are dubbed as the world’s largest inclusive sports and charitable event. About 2 000 athletes with intellectual disabilities globally are expected to participate in eight various sporting codes.
Motsumi said they’ll use the trip to Italy as an oversight, as North West is one of the provinces next in line to host the National Special Olympics Summer games in 2026. “From here we will be hosting a series of meetings with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that we have successful Summer Olympics. I believe we are more than ready to host other provinces, we have suitable facilities, but we will conduct oversight to assess their readiness. However, we do believe that we can host these games without encountering any challenges”, said Motsumi.
The games are also aimed to promote unity, recognition and social cohesion among others. The MEC highlighted that the games provide the Department with an opportunity to rally behind children with special needs. “One must indicate that as the Department we have to start now to take inclusive education very seriously.Because these learners of special needs are very important and they must be acknowledged and recognised by other provinces and by other countries,” explained the MEC. This year’s games will run between 8-15 March.
