Line Ups, Schedules, Tickets And Concert Events In Langa
Music to ears is like a soul to life. Escape the monotonous life
and find pieces of you by attending live music events, festivals and
concerts in Langa. From classical music to jazz to pop to heavy metal to
EDM to rock concerts in Langa, it is a much complex classification
lineup, yet a religion that unites all. Love to groove on the thrilling
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Afrikaanse Taalmonument
Sat Feb 25 2023 at 06:00 pm
Top Music Concert Places in Langa
Music lovers who always seek for some amazing concerts and music
festivals, we have listed concert venues to make it easy for you to find
music events. Explore Concert Venues in Langa that host music festivals & concerts:
The Novalis Ubuntu Institute
Guga Sthebe
WPCCAvenue DeMist Rondebosch, 7700 Cape Town, Western Cape
Vusa Rugby Academy in Langa is helping youngsters stay away from social ills with the game. Photo: Supplied
Published Mar 30, 2019
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There is an awakening happening every day in Langa – and it is as stimulating for the mind as it is heart-warming for the soul.
It happens at the Vusa Rugby Academy, where the Langa Stadium has been turned into the field of dreams.
Langa
is a township whose people know hardship, know struggle and know gang
violence. In 2017 the township was hard-hit by ‘Gurans’, which is a name
given to a fight between two feuding gangs.
Youngsters were
targeted and remain a target. The streets, at certain times of the day,
scream danger. The destructive gang influence is an ongoing presence.
Vusa
gives boys an escape from those streets where gang fame so often turns
to shame. Vusa every year upskills 120 youngsters, aged nine to 13, from
five primary schools in Langa.
These boys, instead of
being vulnerable to the elements on the streets, are strengthened by a
structured post-school rugby and education programme.
Vusa means
to awaken - and that was exactly the intention of Bishops Prep’s Brendan
Fogarty when he launched an Academy, whose mission statement was to
change a life more than to exclusively improve a rugby skill.
Fogarty
is the inspiration for the Vusa Academy but he attributes the success
to Langa community leaders and the passion from within these leaders to
invest time and energy in each boy.
The
rewards are obvious because so many of the young boys who arrived as
nine and 10 year-olds are still involved with rugby in Langa. As many as
12 former Vusa Academy players are playing for the local Busy Bee RFC
under 18s.
It’s a statistic which delights Fogarty.
“To see
the likes of Mahle Mgqoboka, Lingelihle Ndabaninzi, Mbongo Sophasa,
Siyamanga Sam, Sanele Mdumata, Thabo Tyantsi, Yanga Wambi, Thembile
Justice, Aphumelele Sithole, Anga Nobetbe, Likhona Jezile and Nzwana
Manentsa revelling in the U-18s just makes it all so worthwhile,” says
Fogarty. “And then there’s a player like Siviwe Kewana who is on a
scholarship at SACS and plays for the U-16As.”
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Fogarty
insists the rugby component is a snapshot of the true value of the
Academy because education and the opportunity to change lives is
fundamental to the motivation of the Vusa leadership.
Vusa is
about creating opportunities for the boys. It’s about rugby and
learning. For the group who train on the Monday, there’s a group in the
Leap School classroom being tutored in Maths and English. On the Tuesday
the respective groups trade places, and so it goes for Wednesday and
Thursday.
The Fridays are traditionally about an activity outside
of Langa and an emphasis is on social growth. Saturday is match day and
Sunday is the only day the Academy isn’t operational.
Fogarty’s
Bishops Prep is aligned closely with Vusa and learning opportunities
take place in Langa and also at Bishops Prep. The essence of Vusa is to
develop structures and people within the community. It’s about making a
community proud of their community.
It’s about showing there is
more to an environment than hardship, struggle and violence. Vusa is
about excellence and reward. It is about change and reward.
Youngsters in action for for Vusa Rugby Academy. Photo: Supplied
Fogarty’s dream is to create hubs of excellence in communities where talent can be nurtured in a safe stimulating environment.
“From
creche to tertiary and beyond Rise by lifting needs to be our mantra in
South Africa,” says Fogarty, who believes no programme can succeed
unless education is coupled to the sporting component.
He has
experienced the transformation of those nine-year-old boys, who have
prospered into fine young teenagers; youngsters who give back to the
next generation of nine-year-olds through mentoring, example and
presence at training sessions. “Vusa could not work if the community
didn’t believe in it,” says Fogarty. ‘It’s an Academy that had to speak
to the community and operationally be driven from within the community.”
The
vision may have been his, but the execution of that vision is a
collective. Corporate inclusion is non-negotiable because of the
financial considerations. Investec Asset Management, KEPU Trading, and
Shoprite are among the financial and product partners.
Bishops,
UCT and African Impact share facilities and human skills. Capitec
covers part of the academic programme. Regular attendance is essential
to the Academy and no boy is ever turned away. Rugby isn’t the only
consideration: the boy who may not have the best pass, may have the best
academic mind.
It’s about promoting safety and comfort. It’s
about giving a home to boys after school. It’s about them knowing that
there is a life beyond the streets.
“The more the youngsters see
the older boys succeed and create something magical, the greater the
desire from each new youngster to be that older boy. Critically, it’s
about them having an environment in which everything is done to make
each boy a better human being.”
Several boys have been
offered bursaries to traditional rugby-playing schools. It’s an
inevitable consequence of any Academy, but the primary motivation for
Vusa is to make rugby in Langa stronger and to keep the players in
Langa. It is about building strength from within and not necessarily
being a nursery for wealthier and more privileged schools.
It’s about giving those boys hope, as much as it is about opportunity.
Vusa
recently thrilled at the Paarl Boys Primary’s rugby festival. The Langa
Academy won 14 of their 16 matches in the U-11 and U-13 divisions. They
were awarded the trophy for the most enterprising team and also the
most attractive rugby played.
For all the boys, it was their first ever visit to a rugby festival in Paarl.
For Fogarty, it is only the start.
He
wants to take them to Port Elizabeth later this year, along with
Springbok captain and Vusa ambassador Siya Kolisi. He wants them to
experience the cultural side of touring and playing rugby against
schools from another province.
Mostly, he wants to show each boy what is possible when you dream big and work hard to make those dreams come true.
The Vusa Rugby Academy in Langa is supported by Bishops and
managed by the Bishops Prep Head of Rugby who aims to nurture and
support all future rugby stars.
The Vusa Rugby Academy was established in 2002 to help children from
disadvantaged backgrounds realise their rugby dreams and work on their
talents. The Academy has worked in partnership with Bishops for years
and the pairing has meant great success.
The programme is run from the Langa sports complex on a daily basis
and children are able to come through and join in on the practices and
life skills exercises. The boys focus on their academics before kitting
up for rugby practice.
“The programme is run on a
daily basis. Boys walk down from their respective schools to Langa
stadium and from there will split up into our sporting group and our
academic group. It’s a dual programme.” – Brendan Fogerty, Master in
Charge of Rugby at Bishops and Vusa Coordinator
The programme not only uplifts the youth but also the adults from Langa.
“We employ about 15 young
adults from the Langa community who are ex-rugby players or current
rugby players who do the coaching.” – Brendan Fogerty
Since its founding, the programme has had the pleasure of seeing one
of its own make the Springbok Rugby Squad. Children with an outstanding
talent for rugby have the chance at a bursary to Bishops and each child
is given the opportunity to see a brighter future.
Recently, 4 of the young boys from the programme were given the
opportunity to be the Ball Boys for Ikey Tigers University of Cape
Town opening Varsity Cup match against Wits.
Their 2017 achievements speak for themselves. Take a look below:
One of our top athletes took up a bursary for Grade 9 at SACS High School.
We have reached our target of fielding two teams per age group.
We have joined the Western Province League.
We have won 70% of our games.
Our programme has become a safe, caring home away from home for many children.
You can find out more about the Vusa Rugby Academy here.
