FROM THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS TO THE FOOTBALL PITCH, MAYOR HASSAN MAKO TURNS PASSION FOR THE BEAUTIFUL GAME INTO SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE

Sep 16

2 min read

Football is more than a game. It has the extraordinary power to bring people together, build community pride, inspire young people and create a shared sense of belonging. For Executive Mayor Cde Hassan Mako, that power of sport is inseparable from the responsibility to serve the people.

Following the recent promotion of Boipatong FC and Ben 10 Soccer FC Club to the second division of professional football, the ABC Motsepe League, the Executive Mayor invited key players, leaders and managers of both clubs as his special guests during a Council sitting. Their promotion was celebrated as a proud achievement not only for the clubs, but for the communities they represent and the broader Emfuleni family.

But for Mayor Mako, celebrating the achievement could not end in the Council chambers.

Driven by his passion for football and his conviction that sport can be a powerful instrument for social cohesion and community development, the Executive Mayor, together with the Nale Foundation, visited the training grounds of both teams to personally encourage the players, technical teams and club leadership.

The Mayor and the Nale Foundation handed over a range of sporting equipment, including soccer balls, soccer kits, training cones and other training equipment, as a gesture of support and encouragement.

The gesture was not simply about providing equipment. It was an expression of gratitude and appreciation on behalf of the Emfuleni Local Municipality and the people of Emfuleni to the players, coaches, managers and supporters who have carried the name of their communities with pride and demonstrated what determination, discipline and collective effort can achieve.

For Mayor Mako, sport represents an opportunity to build bridges across communities, unite people around a common purpose and give young people something positive to believe in. The football pitch becomes a place where differences can be put aside, where talent can flourish, and where the values of teamwork, discipline, respect and perseverance can be nurtured.

"Our responsibility as leaders is not only to sit in Council chambers and make decisions. We must go to the people, listen to them, support their dreams and be present where their hopes and aspirations are being built." - said the Mayor

The Mayor's engagement with the two clubs is therefore part of a broader philosophy of servant leadership, leadership that does not merely speak about development, but gets closer to the people and invests in initiatives that can change lives.

As Boipatong FC and Ben 10 Soccer Club prepare to take on the challenges of professional football, they carry with them more than the ambition to win matches. They carry the hopes and aspirations of their communities.

... And, in standing alongside them, Mayor Hassan Mako is reinforcing a simple but powerful message; when our people succeed, their Municipality must celebrate with them, stand with them and serve them.

In Mayor’s words, "Indeed Emfuleni is rising..."