Gauteng gogos have raised the Gauteng flag very high when they scooped the top prize in women's soccer at the National Golden Games of the Elderly held this week in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.
Gauteng oldies, who were in Port Elizabeth from 21 to 25 October, also scooped the second best province overall, coming short on the steps of Kwa-Zulu who took the floating trophy to KZN. The sporting codes in which Gauteng participated in include; athletic races, relay, soccer, jukskei, duck walk, rugby ball throw, ring the stick, goal shooting and so on.
Gauteng MEC for Social Development, Thuliswa Nkabinde-Khawe, congratulated all the participants who were at the golden games. "You have made us proud as the province of Gauteng and we celebrate your achievements with great jubilation, well done! You are great ambassadors of active ageing. Gauteng Provincial Government calls on all the elderly in Gauteng to learn
from you that participating in active aging programmes has great benefits for good health and graceful aging, whilst also helping against prevalence of illnesses".
The Golden Games strongly promote active ageing for the elderly. This Active Ageing Programme was introduced by the Department of Social Development in partnership with the South African Older Persons Forum (SAOPF) to uphold the human rights of older persons and to respond to their developmental needs in South Africa as directed by the Older Persons Act (Act No. 13 2006) and the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing.
Its goal is to improve the quality of life of older persons by amongst others, promoting independence, participation in various social, cultural and sporting initiatives that seek to prevent and reduce old-age related burden of diseases. This is part of the Department's effort to build a caring society that promotes and protects the human rights of people of all ages.
The MEC also wished speedy recovery to one of the participants who had to be hospitalized due to her pre-existing medical condition. Gauteng medical team accompanying the elderly acted swiftly, and ensured that the participant receives urgent medical attention, and is due to be released from hospital in few days.​