Friday, October 9, 2015

Following the first five celebrities announced in a statement last week, the next group of celebrities, involved in this year’s Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile on October 31st at Turffontein Racecourse, will be officially announced today.

This group of celebrities are a mixture of acclaimed theatre actors and well known sports presenters! They are:

Acclaimed theatre actor, Fezile Mpela may be best known for his leading roles as Vusi in the first season of the SABC1 drama series Mzansi, and as Sello in the SABC2 soapie 7de Laan. He has also appeared in Generations, Song Vir Katryn, Molofish II and Isidingo. Mpela also boasts roles in numerous feature films, including Drum, The Lion King and Born Free 2. This prolific actor has had over 20 years’ experience in the industry.

A person sports fans are seeing a lot of this month is the notoriously amusing Neil Andrews who is an avid fan of horseracing and a regular celebrity at the Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile, where he is also the MC.
This SuperSport presenter who was born in Farnham, England, knows more about sport than most and has previously won the SAB Award for Talk-show Sports-caster of the Year.
A fellow SuperSport presenter with a solid following of her own is the stunning Carol Tshabalala. Tshabalala, who participated in last year’s Survivor South Africa Champions, started her career in broadcasting in 2000 for the youth sports programme Sportsbuzz before becoming a field reporter for the show Soccer Special. Soon after this she earned the prestigious accolade of being the first female sports anchor of major TV show, Mabaleng.
Mpela, Andrews and Tshabalala are three of the 16 celebrities who will be paired with 16 racehorses for this Grade 2 race, with 16 charities receiving a share of the notable R 1 million donated by Peermont and Emperors Palace.

The pairing of celebrities with charities has already taken place, with Fezile Mpela being paired with San Michelle, a non-denominational home for intellectually & physically disabled people, based in Brakpan. Neil Andrews has been paired with Welamlambo Primary School, one of the schools supported by the Peermont Children’s Trust which assists with the provision of school uniforms ever year, daily hot meals for all learners, food parcels for the school holidays, building of jungle gyms, and an annual Christmas party. The majority of these schools are in very underprivileged areas with many children being orphaned and malnourished.
Carol Tshabalala has been paired with the Peermont Community Benefit Trust, known as the “Izimbewu Ze Themba” Grade R Project which implements an Early Childhood Development and Grade R programme to prepare children for school while improving their capacity to develop life-long learning.

The barrier draw, being held on the 21 October at Emperors Palace, will pair each of the 16 thoroughbreds with these celebrities and charities.

There are various hospitality options available, including a fully inclusive package in the Aquanaut or Furious Room and Deck with a prime view of the race track for R 850.00 per person, as well as packages including a buffet lunch and cash bar for R 475.00 per person. For hospitality bookings contact (011) 681-1702.

To make this exciting and significant race day all the more appealing, the rugby final will be broadcast on screens in all the main hospitality areas from 17H00! See you at the Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile one of the most popular on the racing calendar, on 31 October 2015.

Emperors Palace is a Peermont resort. For further information visit emperorspalace.com or call +27 (0) 11 928 1000. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @emperorspalace.