Moz, SA relations promoted
2010-05-01 09:36
Maputo - A festival to promote relations between South Africa and Mozambique ended with a soccer clinic in Maputo on Friday.
“Its part of the promotion of mutual development between South Africa and Mozambique,” said Morne Marx of the SA High Commission in Mozambique.
The week-long programme included roundtable discussions about road infrastructure and information and communication technology development, a trade exhibition of South African companies at the SA High Commission and a business delegation's visit to inspect agricultural projects in Gaza province, led by SA High Commissioner to Mozambique Dikgang Moopeloa, Gaza borders South Africa in the Mpumalanga province.
A travel book was also released highlighting the N4 route, the key roadway between Gauteng and Maputo.
“The book launch focuses on infrastructure and development because the N4 is a very important infrastructure link between these two countries, which we are continuously improving,” Marx said at the event.
Route
Journalist and writer Peter Delmar was approached to write The N4 Book after the success of his The N3 Book, which told stories about the route between Johannesburg and Durban.
“People spend a lot of their holiday time getting from A to B,” he told Sapa.
“They miss what's going on.”
Writing about the stories on the N4 was exciting because of Mpumalanga's ethnic and cultural diversity, Delmar said.
“Mostly you drive and end up in the middle of nowhere and ask people what's going on here. One person refers you to another and eventually you land with someone who knows.”
A highlight in writing the book was discovering former President Nelson Mandela's link with the road which he often travelled to a lodge where he used to visit after he was released from prison 20 years ago.
A soccer clinic concluded the event on Friday, with 40 Mozambican soccer veterans teaching around 50 youngsters some tricks with the ball.
“It was the perfect way to conclude the SA week as well in the light of the 2010 FIFA World Cup that's a few weeks away, and the greater plan of promoting soccer in both countries,” Marx told Sapa after the event.
- SAPA