LET`S PLAY: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (Hitachi Construction Machinery Southern Africa)
SuperSport is a South African group of Television channels owned by Multichoice and they broadcast and provide sports content to South Africa and many other African Countries. Hitachi Construction Machinery Southern Africa (HCSA) approached SuperSport in 2013 to get involved in their Community Development programme called “Let’s Play”, which forms a part of the Nelson Mandela Legacy Programme. The reason we got involved in this initiative is because we believe that adequate sports facilities have become more relevant in our current time and it is an essential component to raising the future leaders of tomorrow, our Youth. Together with the other sponsors, we develop four multi-purpose sporting facilities a year in underprivileged communities across South Africa.
HCSA goes and levels the field at the chosen schools using a Hitachi Construction Machinery wheel loader (ZW140) in order to create a good foundation for the sports field to be built on. Other partners such as Builders Massmart then come in with the materials and they construct the sports field. Active Education is another partner in this initiative and they train the teachers about physical education.
In collaboration with the Let’s Play initiative, we have managed to develop 24 underprivileged schools in communities across South Africa, reaching over 100,000 children. Besides the physical benefits of being active, studies have shown that playing sports or doing physical education has a multitude of benefits. Such benefits include teaching kids basic life skills which they will carry with them for life until adulthood like teamwork, or good sportsmanship as it teaches you to be triumphant when you win but also to be resilient when you lose, it inculcates discipline and playing within a set of rules. Children who are more active often excel academically as well. Our aim with this initiative is also to try and reduce bullying and drug abuse in communities.
As HCSA, we are proud to be a part of this initiative and we will continue to be a ‘’Reliable partner’’ in developing or reviving communities and the environment around South Africa. Four more schools will be identified for the financial year 2019, to receive the Multi-Purpose sports fields.
