Feel it, it’s (almost) here — just 100 days to go before SA’s first-ever Netball World Cup

Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa at the launch of Freedom Month at Freedom Park on 6 April 2023 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

19 Apr 2023

Another netball-related mural was unveiled in Cape Town on Wednesday to celebrate the fast-approaching Netball World Cup in the city.

Wednesday, 19 April marked 100 days before Cape Town hosts the Netball World Cup — the first time that it will be played on African soil.

The City of Cape Town on Wednesday unveiled another of a series of murals commemorating the city hosting the event.

The mural is painted on the road outside the Cape Town International Convention Centre — the venue that will be the home of the quadrennial tournament for two weeks, starting on 28 July.

The massive artwork, paying homage to Cape Town’s netball heritage and the Mother City, is on Lower Long Street between Walter Sisulu Avenue and Wharf Street.

Local artists Mak1one, Dfeat Once, Claire Homewood and UrbanKhoi collaborated on the mural. It will remain on the road for the next few months and will be part of Cape Town’s official fan park for the event.

The fan park, at Cullinan Square, is a space where fans can watch matches and enjoy live entertainment for the duration of the Netball World Cup.

“Cape Town is officially ready to welcome the world to our beautiful city this July. A lot of hard work has been going on behind the scenes for over 36 months to ensure Cape Town is able to deliver a memorable Netball World Cup experience for players and spectators,” said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

“Outside the CTICC, the city has earmarked a space which will be used as a fan park during the tournament. Just like we had thousands on the Grand Parade for the 2010 World Cup, we want this space to be a place where thousands of netball fans can gather to enjoy games and everything netball.”

Netball SA President Cecilia Molokwane during the Netball World Cup 2023 media announcement at Southern Sun Rosebank on 28 November, 2022, in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo: Reg Caldecott / Gallo Images)

Fan parks

Cecilia Molokwane, the president of Netball South Africa and a former Proteas star player, said: “When I was a player, I didn’t have a role model to look up to and say, ‘This is the person I want to be like.’

“So this is about giving children from townships and farm schools an opportunity [to find netball role models and to gain] awareness. We are here, this is happening in our city. Support the girls, support netball.

“We’ve been struggling as a women’s sport to be taken seriously and to be put out there. The murals are there to gain attention for the World Cup.”

The city is finalising plans for four other fan parks, in Langa, Khayelitsha, Bellville South and Mitchells Plain.

As part of Cape Town’s build-up to the Netball World Cup, a street netball programme has been initiated, led by the Sporting Chance Development Foundation.

The 100 days event on Wednesday served as the programme’s soft launch with an exhibition match — on the road where the mural is painted — featuring Sporting Chance’s under-13 girls’ team from Langa.

The action-packed tournament will feature more than 760 junior netball players and will be hosted across Cape Town, from Grassy Park, Elsies River, Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Langa, Mfuleni and Ocean View to Nomzamo.

Zizi Kodwa at the launch of Freedom Month at Freedom Park on 6 April, 2023, in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu)

‘What South Africa needs’

The minister of sports, arts and culture, Zizi Kodwa, was also present at the unveiling of the mural on Wednesday. He said the Netball World Cup could unite the country as the Fifa World Cup did in 2010.

“This is what South Africa needs because at the moment we’re faced with so many challenges, we need special moments and sport provides special moments,” said Kodwa.

“It’s something that unites us. Black and white, the poor the rich, the rural, the urban and this is that moment.

“Something has disappeared in South Africans since 2010. ‘Feel it, it’s here’ must come back. We must embrace this moment and unite as a nation.”

The Netball World Cup starts on 28 July. DM

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Fan parks

‘What South Africa needs’