Cricket South Africa congratulated Proteas Women’s Captain Dane van Niekerk and KZN Administrator Sanelisiwe Khuzwayo on their recognition at the Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) annual awards function in Gauteng on Sunday evening.
Van Niekerk received a special SRSA Minister award while Khuzwayo was named Administrator of the Year.
“Congratulations to Dane and Sanelisiwe on the well-deserved awards. The CSA family is extremely proud of both of them,” commented CSA Acting Chief Executive Thabang Moroe. “In the case of Sanelisiwe it is a notable double as she previously won a similar award from the KZN Provincial Government.
“Dane has been an inspirational captain of the Proteas, taking over the leadership role at a young age, and the whole country was inspired by her leadership and the performance of the Proteas team that came so close to qualifying for a first ever ICC Final.
“It has been our best year ever in the women’s cricket arena with the Proteas reaching the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup and being a finalist for the SRSA Team of the Year award and Hilton Moreeng being a finalist for the SRSA Coach of the Year award.
“Congratulations are due also to Keshav Maharaj who was a finalist for the SRSA Newcomer of the Year award. Keshav has established himself as one of the leading spin bowlers in the world in the space of less than a year in spite of not having had the opportunity to bowl on the sub-continent as yet.
“His figures speak for themselves: 43 wickets in the current calendar year and the landmark of 50 wickets in only 12 matches.
“CSA is justifiably proud both of its award winners and those who were short-listed as finalists in an extremely competitive field.”
Mr. Moroe also paid tribute to Dr. Raymond Uren and Advocate Mthetheleli Ngumbela who received Steve Tshwete Lifetime Achievement awards.
“Congratulates to both these stalwarts of sport in the Eastern Cape. Raymond was one of the pioneers in the fight against discrimination in sport and, once we had a democratic system in place, he turned his energies to the sporting development of our youth. Mthetheleli has contributed enormously to the rural development of many sporting codes in the Eastern Cape including cricket.
“It is appropriate that we celebrate not just our current stars but those who went before them to enable them to achieve their dreams today,” concluded Mr. Moroe.
