Off to Australia

Sanele Zondi is a very proud youngster. Only 10 months since he joined the Durban Lifeguards Club he is ready to take on the world. Sanele and five other club members will be travelling to Australia to compete in a world surf swimming championships.

Sydney's Manley Beach will host 5000 competitors from all over the world in a competition known as Rescue 2000. Sanele and the five other club members were all selected after tough trials involving 23 other lifeguards from other Durban Clubs.
"This competition is a learning experience. We know we will be up against the best. Some of them have Commonwealth experience. But we are determined to put Durban on the map," said Sanele.
Sanele already has a silver medal which he won in a recent provincial swimming championship.

Sanele Zondi (kneeling in front) and team mates (left to right) Garth Cook, Mxolisi Luthuli, Giovanni Primo, Paul Stokes, Trenni Kannipan and team manager Farouk Omarjee.

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Clermont karateka come out tops

by Sibusiso Mboqo Madondo
Chesterville Karate Dojo members were made to eat humble pie when the visitors from Clermont Karate Dojo walked away with the lion's share of the medals.
The tournament was attended by only eight karate clubs, but spectators were happy because of the high level of the competition.
Sensei Bheki Biyela of the Clermont Dojo said: "I never expected such a crowd but we are grateful because it made us want to shine more. The standard of the competition was world class. It was tough and my charges have made me proud."
The runners-up, from Umzinto, walked away with three gold medals.
Said Mkhosi Cebekhulu from the Umzinto dojo: "As a professional I congratulate Clermont. They deserve the championship the way they fought, it was brilliant."
The Chesterville dojo could only manage to win two gold and one silver medal. But their Sensei Mbongeleni Ximba could only blame their preparations and the state of their gymnasium.
"Our gymnasium is dilapidated and not conducive to training. But our main problem is that we did not prepare hard enough," he said.

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A school of hope in New Dunbar

Constance Hadebe seems to have found a way to help the poor in her neighbourhood. The desire to help her neighbours has prompted the woman to offer her house, a two-room shack in New Dunbar, to be used as a school.

Dozens of children flock around her house to receive basic education every day because their parents cannot afford to send them to a proper school. Children who come to her house all have a yearning for learning. When IZWI visited Constance's house there were more than 60 kids between 5 and 13 years - some inside and others sitting in the yard learning.
"It is sad really, most of us in the settlement live below the bread line. In some families both parents are unemployed so the kids have to suffer. If not for this school most of them would be wandering around the settlement exposed to all sorts of temptations e.g stealing from their neighbours," said Constance.
Though the school is deemed to be for the poorest of the poor, parents must still fork out R50 a year and contribute R10 a month to pay the salaries of the three young teachers who teach at the school.

Constance Hadebe (extreme left) with some of the kids who flock to her house in New Dunbar Road in search of education.

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