Cena crowned musangwe champion

Khodani “Cena” Nephalama was crowned as the new champion of the musangwe tournament after he beat Lufuno "Checkers" Gethe in the final of the Radzambo Cultural Foundation Musangwe tournament a fortnight ago.

More than 20 bouts took place during the tournament that was attended by many chiefs around Vhembe.

The sponsor of the tournament, Chief Livhuwani Matsila of Radzambo Cultural Foundation, pledged his undivided support for the sport. He stated that he was committed to preserving the Venda culture and felt bound to lend a helping hand to musangwe as it formed part of the Venda culture.

The musangwe boss, Mr Tshilidzi “Poison” Ndevana, said they had decided to conduct weekly tournaments after realizing that people were still thirsty for more action after the festive musangwe tournament. "The tournament at Tshifudi Stadium thrilled people in such a way that they needed more action, even after it was declared closed. We then invited different stakeholders to a meeting where we agreed to start with the Saturday tournaments."

Ndevana further invites men who are interested in musangwe to come and join them. "We are planning to make this sport a big event and we want everyone to participate. If we get sponsors in the future, we will reward the fighters to strengthen their fighting spirit. Maybe one day, the government will make this sport legal."

Nephalama said that he would not give up the sport because it was the one he enjoyed most. "Some say it is a primitive game, but I don’t agree with them, because it is like other games. It is meant to promote friendship, because we bear no grudges after the fight, even if one is defeated. This is the game of our forefathers and we will never stop following in their footsteps.”

Nephalama went home with R6 000 cash, while Gethe received R5 000. The two who lost in the semi-finals, Solo Munyai and Tshinandala Mukundamagwa, received R3 000 and R2 000 respectively.

Date:09 January 2020

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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