Well known businessman, sports enthusiast and generous philanthropist, Mthetheli Advocate Ngumbela is celebrating 30 years of involvement in cricket as a major sponsor of rural sport development.

The event is taking place on Sunday the 6th of January at what has become the mecca of rural cricket, Nxukhwebe, his village of birth. The Ngumbela Sports Ground, a state of the art facility built largely from the community developer’s own funds, overlooks the famous Healdtown institution where many of South Africa’s luminaries were educated.

His daughter and organiser, Xoliswa Ngumbela, had this to say about the event, “We are expecting Cricket South Africa Executive. Eastern Cape Dept of Sport MEC will be in attendance.

Umhlobo Wenene FM will be broadcasting live at the stadium. Supersport TV and SABC are expected to cover the event.

The Spectators from villages of the playing teams will be battling out in Songs. 25 Buses carrying 65 people each will be ferrying spectators from King Williams Town, Alice, Fort Beaufort and surrounding villages to enjoy the festivities of the day. There is such an excitement around this day. Tata’s village is one of the teams battling it out for being the CHAMP OF CHAMPS”.

Popularly known for being outspoken about government’s tardiness in addressing issues of rural sport development, Ngumbela coined the phrase, “asimanga siyaqhuba rhulumente” – loosely translated to mean “we are not standing still but doing things ourselves govt”.

Indeed he lives up to this mantra as he has built several sports facilities in Alice, Dutywa, Butterworth and various other areas.

His love for cricket competes with his passion for football, none of which have been diminished by age. He has been sponsoring the Ngumbela Prestige football tournament for as long as he has sponsored cricket.

Matches start at 10h00.