Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and the executive council of eThekwini paid tribute to the winners of the 95th Comrades Marathon 2022 – Tete Dijana from South Africa and Russia’s Alexandra Morozova – despite the controversy around the Russian runner related to the Ukraine war.
Determined to compete this year, Morozova had to endure a court fight just three days before Sunday’s race to enable her to participate, following an eleventh-hour decision by the Comrades Marathon Association not to allow her to compete “as per a directive” from World Athletics.
In her court papers, Morozova argued that “Discrimination against me solely on the basis of my nationality is no more acceptable than discrimination against a person based solely on their ethnicity.”
The court had on Saturday ruled in her favour, and awarded costs, making it possible for the top runner to compete. The Comrades Marathon Association said its attempt to block her from participating was in line with a supposed instruction from World Athletics, based on Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Morozova is expected to be back in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in November to establish whether she's entitled to any prize money.
In the Comrades, South Africa was well represented as Dijana took the number one spot for men, followed by Edward Mothibi, in second place, and Dan Moselakwe in third place.
Dube-Ncube hailed all the winners, including Mozorova, who was followed home by Dominika Stelmach from Poland in the women’s race.
The premier said that the country, as a member of the BRICS group, had in 2013 hosted a successful 5th BRICS Summit in the City of eThekwini.
“The province will continue to position KZN as a destination for conferences, sports, music and other international events,” Dube-Ncube said.
Furthermore, the premier encouraged the exchange of programmes for the benefit of the people of KZN, members of the BRICS bloc and other countries.
“We are exploring exchange programmes in sports, culture, and business – including exchange programmes involving academic institutions.
“We do not want to leave (out) our co-operatives and SMMEs from the townships and deep rural areas. Critically, we want young people and women to benefit from such international relations. We want to ensure that they are part of building a prosperous province for future generations," she said.
Earlier, at Moses Mabhida Stadium, she welcomed the first runners home and participated in the prize giveaway.
Dube-Ncube said she remained confident that such events would stimulate the tourism industry and create job opportunities for many people.
“The event brings millions into the local economy and ensures the stimulation of different sectors of the economy. By Thursday, we had already recorded accommodation occupancies of more than 93% in Pietermaritzburg – with Durban and Umhlanga at 69%.
“We are satisfied with the work done by the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Siboniso Duma and all entities under his department, such as the KZN Tourism Authority, in terms of working with stakeholders in the entire value chain of the tourism industry.”
She praised the MEC for Arts, Culture and Sports, Amanda Bani-Mapena and her team for working well with the leadership of the Comrades Marathon Association to ensure that they staged the most successful race.
“Equally, we thank eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, Durban Tourism, Durban metro police and all councillors for the hard work over the past months. A special tribute to the leadership of Umgungundlovu and Umsunduzi municipalities.
“In particular, we thank stakeholders in the industry and the people of KwaZulu-Natal for looking after runners who are accompanied by families and their friends.
“Let us make sure that international and national runners, their families and friends enjoy the diversity of our cultures as we mark Heritage and Tourism Month in September.”
Daily News