Officials from the Public Safety Department won the spoils and bragging rights after dominating various sporting codes at an intergovernmental sports day organised by the management of the Correctional Services Department in Johannesburg. The sporting event, tailored to encourage civil servants to lead healthy lifestyles, saw various sports teams from the City compete in aerobics, track running, golf, cycling, volleyball, football, and netball.

The event was organised for government sports teams in Gauteng to play against each other as part of promoting general wellness and mental health amongst public servants. It comes after two years of Covid-19 public health restrictions, which prevented active participation in mass sporting events.

The event offered public safety officials from the City a platform to network and unwind following a series of Covid-19 lockdowns and the high-pressure environment they work in.

“Because of Covid-19, we were off for some time, but now we are back, and I am happy to see the number of people who are here to participate,” said Tshilidzi Nageli, a dietician from Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.

Officials from public safety played alongside their counterparts at the municipal entity for waste management, Pikitup. They were pitted against other civil servants from the departments of Correctional Services, Home Affairs, Gauteng Traffic Police, South African Police Service (SAPS), and other departments within the Gauteng provincial government.

The sporting event started in the morning with the scores of attendees participating in a 5km run around the prison precinct as part of their warm-up exercise, while others saw the opportunity to brag about losing excess body weight.

On the football field, the Correctional Services Department took on their Home Affairs counterparts in the first tournament of the day. On the other side, the City’s Emergency Management Service (EMS) personnel went head-to-head with their Pikitup colleagues in a tense netball match.

The netball game attracted spectators who had been participating in the track run and those who were cycling around the prison courtyard. Most said they enjoyed the “hand-eye coordination of the ball,” as well as techniques to pass and catch the ball. “It’s one of those fascinating sports that you find yourself mesmerised by,” said Nathi, a cyclist from the City.

Throughout the day, echoes of spectators rooting for their favourite teams could be heard reverberating across the prison precinct.

On the volleyball court, it was the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) and the City’s EMS teams that went head to head, with a mixed squad of men and women playing against each other in the same matches.
Phuti Tlala, a volleyball player, said the wellness event helped civil servants’ detox from stressful work. “I would call this event a stress reliever,” Tlala said. She added that sport played a crucial role in one’s mental and physical wellbeing, helping people with chronic illnesses avoid hospitalisation.

“Such sporting events help government employees fend off lifestyle diseases and be in a better position to implement service delivery instead of being in hospital,” Tlala said.

The JMPD’s football captain, Tebogo Musi, said although the law enforcement fraternity deals with traumatic situations most often, sport is a great detoxing agent.

“We work in stressful environments every day; the things we see out there can leave one mentally disturbed. These sport tournaments help us to stay fit and to relax mentally,” added Musi.

Written by Dakalo Ramudidibi
21.7.2022