GIYANI - As part of his departmental consultation programme, the MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Mr Joe Maswanganyi, met with community stakeholders of the Mopani District Municipality in Giyani last Thursday, where they raised issues regarding the department.

One of the highlights at the event was the presentation by statutory bodies such as the Heritage Council, Sports Council and the Geographical Names Committee. When asked as to what prompted the department to embark on the programme, Maswanganyi said: "We want to move with our people when we implement our programmes. We also need to ensure that we are in touch with them in order to understand better their challenges in their respective fields, but also for them to assist us with solutions to the challenges that we face as we make efforts to meet our goals."

Maswanganyi said that it does not help people to know more about his department if they don’t go down to meet with them. He said that one of the experiences he had learnt so far was that there was no development without stakeholders. He added that, as his main task was to promote sport, arts and culture in the province, it was crucial for him to do that with others. When encouraging people to be proud of their culture, he said that he had reached an agreement with the mayors of the four municipalities at the Mopani District to organise a cultural dance day at their municipalities.

"The year 2010 is not far; let us start to organise ourselves now, as it is also one of our dreams to industrialise sport, arts and culture. Let us refrain from criminal activities, as some of the World Cup teams will be practising here. We must showcase who we are, so that even after the World Cup they must come back to visit," he said.

Maswanganyi added that his department wanted to promote indigenous dances through the establishment of a Limpopo Dance Academy.