Aganang salutations for athlete Kekana s victory over Comrade Marathon

Aganang Local Municipality on Tuesday, dated 04 June 2013, joined the people of Mandela village in Ga-Mashashane to give 2013 Comrades marathon gold medalist, Johannes Kekana a hero s welcome. Kekana came fifth position overall in only his second participation in this ultra-marathon held in Kwazulu-Natal known as Durban Comrade Marathon. The soft-spoken father of three s first stop was the Mashashane Tribal Offices, before going to Matshelana Primary School in the Mandela village where scores of people eagerly awaited his arrival. Visibly delighted by the feat achieved by one of his subjects, Kgoshi Magandangele II said, We are very happy and proud of Kekana s achievements. We also hope he will be an example to other aspiring athletes and pledge to always support him.

One of his former teachers at Magandangele high school, Mr Ndile Ledwaba described Kekana as humble and hardworking, whilst appreciating the importance of putting God before everything. He has always been down to earth and showed dedication in every aspect even from a young age. The challenge is for us to support him in order to inspire upcoming athletes especially from the Mashashane area, Ledwaba said.

Her Worship Mayor, Cllr Maria Mokobodi expressed their happiness on Kekana s victory. Congratulations Tlou Letebele, we assure you of our support for continuing to put our municipality on the global map. You have shown humility and a perfect example for our youth especially those who want to follow athletics field, said Her Worship.

In response to all the praises, Kekana who was seating side-by-side with his wife Grace expressed gratitude to all the people who came to congratulate him and continue to support him in his athletics career. You can be fruitful even in your old age if you believe in God,he responded. Kekana who shuttles between Limpopo and Gauteng where he runs under the Bonitas Athletics Club vowed to plough back to his community through development of upcoming athletes to follow in his footsteps, all these when he finally hangs up his spikes.

The 2003 All-Africa Games gold medalist was previously acknowledged and honoured by Aganang Local Municipality for his sporting exploits including the victory at the Abuja, Nigeria event.