The City of Cape Town is hosting the 13th African Senior Fencing Championship at the University of Cape Town’s sports complex.
Under the auspices of The South African Amateur Fencing Association, (SAAFA), fencers from 28 countries are battling it out to be crowned African champion.
Men and women will swish their Foil, Epee and Saber weapons from today until June 29.
Gert Bam, the Director of Sport, Recreation and Amenities said that his department, in conjunction with the Tourism, Events and Marketing department, had budgeted R300 000 for the event.
“We calculated the budget based on services we are rendering, and our contribution to catering and volunteers,” Bam said.
Another expense had been procuring and hoisting event flags on light poles. The event flags serve two purposes – to make competitors feel welcome and to publicise the event.
The event also gives the City an opportunity to market Cape Town as an events and tourism destination to countries across the continent. Tourism is a major economic driver, and part of the City’s strategy is to market Cape Town as a destination to not only emerging countries such as India, China and Brazil, but also to tourists from the rest of Africa.
The fencing championship runs until June 29 at UCT’s Sports Complex.
It marks the first time, in the history of African fencing, that all 28 member countries of the African Fencing Confederation will participate in the competition. The 150 athletes come from afar afield as Egypt, Mauritania and Cote D’Ivorie.
Bam says even though the City does not directly fund fencing, community centres are made available for coaching and competitions.
This is not the first time that Cape Town has hosted a major fencing competition. In 1997 South African fencing hosted the world fencing championship in Cape Town.
