Emperors Palace Sponsors Thembisa Athlete

Promising young Thembisa athlete, Benkosi Maqwara was able to jet off to Cape Town on 26 March to compete in the Athletics South Africa Age Group and U/23 Championships. This was all thanks to a sponsorship from Emperors Palace that included an athletics kit and a flight to the Mother City.

The Grade 11 learner attends the Tembisa Commerce and Entrepreneurship School of Specialisation with a focus on Hospitality and Tourism (Tembisa SOS) and was given VIP treatment by Emperors Palace, who support the hospitality school.

Maqwara was sponsored with a branded athletics kit as supporting equipment to help him represent his school at this level. He was treated to a night stay in the Mondior Hotel at the Palace of Dreams, along with his coach, Elvis Khoza and Aunt and guardian, Nancy Nkumbesi, before a grand send-off at OR Tambo International Airport by the Emperors Palace CSI Team. As part of the VIP experience Emperors Palace also arranged access to the Premiere Lounge at both airports, transport in Cape Town to and from their accommodation and collected Maqwara and his team on their return to OR Tambo.

The 18-year-old started taking athletics, particularly the middle-distance events and cross country seriously when he was in Grade 7. Before his departure, Maqwara said, “I’m feeling good, I have been preparing for a long time for this. I'm out of words, I wasn't expecting something this big (the sponsorships from Emperors Palace) and will do my best.”

The young athlete, who won the ASA Schools Cross Country championships for his age group and came second in the ASA Club Cross Country championships last year, came third in the 5000m in the provincial championships last month and second in 3000m at the recent Central Gauteng Athletics championships is certainly a young athlete to watch.

“Ryan Mphahlele is my hero, we come from the same hood (Thembisa), and he is the one who inspired me to take athletics seriously. He showed me that it doesn’t matter where you come from as long as you have a goal, know what you want to achieve, you will see yourself being somewhere you never could have imagined,” concluded the young athlete who may very well still become a household name.

We look forward to tracking his progress and wish him luck for all future events.