Pretoria - Government has called on South Africans to rally behind the country's national teams ahead of super Saturday.
This as South Africans look forward to a bumper line-up of national sporting events as the Springboks, Proteas and Bafana Bafana are due to clash their rivals on the sporting field.
Tomorrow, the Springboks will play against England at Twickenham; Bafana Bafana will go head to head with Senegal in a World Cup qualifier match in Polokwane; and the Proteas will take on Australia in the second test in Hobart.
“Government encourages citizens to rally behind the national teams and maintain a positive hype towards the build-up of super Saturday,” said the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) in a statement on Friday.
“We call on South Africans to once again unite behind our national teams by watching the various matches and wearing the colours of South Africa's flag or the shirt of their favourite team. Let us embrace and capture the sense of our national pride as our teams fly the country’s flag high,” said the GCIS acting Director General Donald Liphoko.
The acting Director General said sport plays a fundamental role in promoting nation building, social cohesion, and a healthy lifestyle.
“It has the ability to bring people together and positively contribute to many of the factors which assist in building social cohesion, such as better physical and mental health, unemployment amongst others. Sport has the power to unite people across race, gender, culture and social status and this builds our country’s social fabric,” said Liphoko.
He said an active nation is achievable through the participation of communities.
“Citizens are encouraged to use the power of social media to send messages of support and encourage our national teams. Let us as a nation utilise the ability of sports and move South Africa forward.” – SAnews.gov.za
