Empowering communities, one field at a time

Since 2019, the Let’s Play Playing Fields Project has constructed 17 multi-purpose pitches, the first of the 17, at Thuthuka Primary School in Tembisa, Gauteng, catering to over 1200 learners at the school and surrounding communities. The Let’s Play Centre of Sporting Excellence, as the courts are affectionately known, is one of nine hockey hubs across the country, introducing the sport to communities that previously had little to no contact with the medium through a partnership with the South African Hockey Association.

“When we started off in Tembisa, we built a 40x20 meter multi-purpose field, which could accommodate one set of teams - which then has one five-a-side football and one netball. Since then, we've expanded into a 40x40 meter version, which then allows two sets of teams to play simultaneously,” senior manager: transformation and CSI Bonisiwe Dlamini-Makola said.

MultiChoice through SuperSport is one of the largest sport broadcasters in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa. And through the SuperSport Let’s Play project and the Sports and Development Trust, MultiChoice has become one of the biggest funders of grassroot sports development on the continent.

“So, as MultiChoice, with our influence and with our expertise in sports, it's imperative that we ensure that the foundation of grassroots development is strong because this in turn feeds onto the broader sport eco-system of the country. Sport is also a major part of our business. At the same time, it is our responsibility to take care of the communities that we're operating through our investment in this grassroots development project,” Dlamini-Makola added.

The impact of these sporting facilities spans far beyond the sports grounds. For instance, in 2024 Let’s Play partnered with SA Hockey and introduced hockey to Tshithuthuni Primary School, located in Venda, Limpopo and Leolo Technical High School in Burgersfort in the same province. “Today, learners from these schools have received opportunities to compete for provincial colours and are also looking into a career in hockey,” Dlamini-Makola said.

Weekends for learners in Credence Primary School in Bloemfontein, Free State and St Mary's Secondary School in Mahikeng, North West are no longer the same as learners have found a safe space to grow and play at the sport facilities. “The learners have found a safe haven in these facilities where Saturdays and Sunday mornings, they're always at the gates of the school just looking to get into the facility and just play,” Dlamini-Makola said.

This past weekend, MultiChoice partnered with the Solly Malatsi Legacy Foundation (SML) founded by Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi to handover the first full sized soccer field with natural grass turf to the Moduane Village in Limpopo. This partnership is an alignment of visions to address the imbalance of sporting infrastructure between rural and urban areas.

“The partnership with the Solly Malatsi Legacy Foundation makes perfect sense for MultiChoice Group, a Canal + Company, because we share the same mission: to ensure that young people have access to quality facilities and proper equipment. The Foundation continues to make a concerted effort to support rural football clubs, providing gear and resources so that youngsters can play on decent fields,” MultiChoice Group director of public affairs rest of Africa, Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng said.

This field is the first to be handed to a community and the first without artificial grass. To help the community maintain this field, MultiChoice has supplied them with state-of-the-art sprinklers and more importantly a pump to get water from a borehole, electricity as well as storage tanks.

The new field also includes three changing rooms, a 200-seater embankment and will serve as the home of the SML foundation’s annual football tournament, which brings together more than 600 young players from Moduane and surrounding villages each year.

Speaking at the handover, Minister Malatsi shared how this partnership has been a culmination of dreams.

“Today is a truly, truly special day. It's the culmination of a dream that, together with the team that helps to run the SML tournament, we have had for some time. To make sure that we have a proper facility that can be used by both our community teams and the schools. One of the things that we have been speaking about since we launched the football tournament was to revive school sports,” Minister Malatsi said.

“But for us, it is about making sure that sporting talent has access to the right facilities and that the dreams of young learners can be nurtured in the environment that they come from. These things are only possible because of partnerships between community organisations, government, the private sector, and the traditional leadership,” he added.

Chairperson of Contralesa in Limpopo, Kgoshi Malesela Dikgale expressed deep gratitude to all those involved with the development of the sports ground in Moduane Village in Limpopo.

“This launch is a sign that more good things are to come for this community of ours. I’m proud of the progress we’re making. The door is open and we can see green pastures ahead and we can see change coming to this community,” Kgoshi Dikgale said.

MultiChoice Group's Sport and Development Trust, through which the company has invested more than R40m in school sport across South Africa. Partnerships with foundations like the SML Foundation are paramount to MultiChoice’s commitment to youth development in the country. These partnerships are also vital for bridging the gap and assisting with access in rural communities.