The event, aimed at introducing skateboarding as an accessible and affordable hobby and leisure activity for the youth of South Africa, featured novice as well as top international and local skaters. As the third mega international skateboarding event staged in Kimberley, the Kimberley Diamond Cup is part of Kumba Iron Ore's commitment to help establish and maintain stable social environments in the Northern Cape. The company has supported the competition over the past three years with R30-million to stage the event.
The Kimberley Diamond Cup followed on the support of Kumba Iron Ore for the Skateboarding for Hope road show that took place across the country, where international professional skaters dazzled crowds of young supporters with their tricks during demonstrations and clinics. Many excited fans also had the opportunity to learn the basics of skateboarding from world-renowned professional skaters. In addition, over a thousand skateboards were handed out to young people in these communities.
"The Kimberley Diamond Cup is aligned to our objective of being a developmental partner of choice in South Africa," said Norman Mbazima, CEO of Kumba Iron Ore.
"The purpose of our investment is to support the Northern Cape government in establishing the province as a prime extreme sport destination. Further, the sponsorship of the Kimberley Diamond Cup is part of our outreach to the Northern Cape community and connecting with the youth by promoting safer and healthier lifestyle choices."
Skateboarding is one of the many community engagement and development programmes initiated by Kumba Iron Ore. Since 2010, the company's two Northern Cape-based operations, Sishen and Kolomela, have spent over R365-million on community engagement and development projects that have benefited the people of the province.
As part of the company's commitment and support to uplifting education standards, Kolomela mine, in partnership with the Department of Education, also made a R4.7 million contribution towards introducing information and communications technology at all the schools in the Tsantsabane local municipal area.
Further, the company funded nine Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres at a total investment of R32-million since 2011. The ECD centres were recently officially handed over to the Northern Cape Department of Education (NCDoE) at a community event at Lareng Primary School in Seoding.
"We are fully committed to empowering local communities by inspiring young people to be engaged citizens. Working in partnership with communities to affect greater change and development is central to the way Kumba Iron Ore operates. We understand the importance and business potential of collaborating with government and our communities to achieve and exceed our long-term goals, both for our company and South Africa as a whole.
"We are therefore proud to support initiatives such as the Kimberley Diamond Cup that support and empower the youth, and promote socialisation and recreational activities that encourage healthy and active lifestyles."
