By Sompisi Ntuli & Cebolenkos Bukhosini
Various sporting codes have come together to entertain crows that largely comprise of students in this year’s Res League and those that are participating say they treat this very srsiously, “We’ve been training hard for this day, and it’s exciting to finally see the results on the court,” said Nontobeko Khumalo, a netball player from Disney Heights Residence
Organisers say that the tournament was launched to promote unity and student engagement. “The league plays a significant role in the holistic development of our students,” said Zakhele “Bra Zakes” Nsukwini who is the orgerniser.
The first set of fixtures from this year’s indoor football tournament installment featured eight teams, comprising of seven teams from seven different DUT residences and a team made up of Residence Advisors (RA) from different DUT owned and outsourced residences. The t
These teams were namely, Spaireinvest, Four Seasons, Steve Biko, Ayer Rock, Penting 505, Disney Heights, RA’s team and Sherwood.
The annual competition kicked off with a match between Spaireinvest and Four Seasons, with the former coming out on top with an emphatic 5-1 win, whilst Steve Biko lost by three goals to two to Ayer Rock. Disney Heights won 2-0 against Penting 505, whilst Sherwood won 5-0 against the RA’s team.
“The most exciting thing about this was the turn out of students, it shows that students were hungry for this, they were waiting for this to happen since this is a form of entertainment, having them off the streets, entertained, in one space, so it’s a great day in the office, and we’re looking forward to more great days with the students,” said Mongezi , speaking on behalf of DUT Housing and Res Life Unit.
Several students were in attendance, and one of these students was Mphumuzi Mzimela, a third year Clothing Management student who expressed his delight at the day’s proceedings, “I really enjoyed myself today, it was a really enjoyable day, especially because I don’t live in a DUT student residence now, so it’s quite different for me now. I now live in an NSFAS accredited Private Accommodation (PA) and we’re not allowed to participate in this tournament and this is the first time I’ve been a spectator rather than a player,”
Organisers say that they see the value in this already. “We wanted the event to run smoothly, and I’m proud of the coordination shown by everyone involved,” said Philani Ndawonde, a Residence Assistant and one of the event organizers.
The tournament is currently only open to DUT residences to participate rather than National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) accredited accommodations, regardless of the fact that these NSFAS leased student accommodations are largely made up of DUT students.
