The royalty of sports at the Durban University of Technology were in dapper tuxedos, elegant dresses and high heels as the university celebrated the Annual Sports Achievement Awards recently at Emakhosini Boutique Hotel in Morningside, Durban.
The banquet is one of the biggest celebratory events on the DUT sports calendar and it is aimed at honouring the finest sports stars on campus. Another objective of DUT’s Sport Administration Department is to inspire upcoming sports talent through this event.
Among the award categories of the day were the prestigious Vice Chancellor’s Gold Awards, the Sports Person of the Year, Most Promising Player, Player of the Year, and Team of the Year.
Musa Mahlaba, a Chemical Engineering student at DUT and Siyethemba Ntombela won the Vice Chancellor’s Gold awards for their enthusiasm in Kung-Fu. Mahlaba and Ntombela were selected to represent South Africa at the 6th World Traditional Wushu Championship which took place from 23 to 29 October 2014 in China. The World Wushu Championships are held every two years and are organised by the International Wushu Federation.
The prize for Best Sportsperson of the Year went to Lindelani Ngubane who is a Sports Studies student at DUT. Ngubane is the vice-captain of the Wolves, the DUT Basketball team. He played for Marlins in the basketball national league and represented KwaZulu-Natal’s senior basketball team at the national championships. Ngubane also represented University Sport South Africa at the Confederation of University and College Sports Association games in Zambia this year (2014).
DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Ahmed Bawa, KZN University Sport South Africa representatives, students and Sports unions attended the banquet. DUT alumni and rising star, Bongiwe Msomi was the guest speaker during the celebrations. Msomi inspired upcoming talent talking about her ups and downs in her career as a netball living legend in the country. Pessa Rama, Sports Officer at DUT, said Msomi’s presentation was imperative as she had been in the professional sporting industry and had the capacity to motivate sports persons to succeed on the national level.
In the spirit of championing upcoming talent, the celebration honoured upcoming Kung-Fu star, Nikita Parthab, a Chemical Engineering student. Jamaine Naidoo was honoured with the Player of the Year award. Naidoo’s hard work paid off with his classic performance in provincial and national Volleyball. He has had outstanding achievements in the KZN Premier League winning among many, the 2012 National Club Championships Most Valuable Player and his appointment as Vice-Captain of the KZN volleyball team.
-Gift Nyamapfene
Pictured: Some of the recipients of the sports awards show off their prizes during the Annual Sports Achievement Awards held at Emakhosini Boutique Hotel in Morningside, Durban.
