This mega skateboarding event will be held in Kimberley in the Northern Cape from 27-29 September 2013. Top international pro-skaters and local amateurs will be competing at the Kimberley Skate Plaza for the biggest prize purse in skateboarding. In the run-up to the three-day skateboarding spectacular, the Skateboarding for Hope community outreach programme will travel throughout the province to host skateboarding clinics to introduce the youth of the Northern Cape to the sport of skateboarding.
In the past three years Kumba Iron Ore has spent over R365 million on community engagement and development projects that have benefitted the people in the Northern Cape. Community engagement is a strong driving force of the company's community initiatives and funding of the Kimberley Diamond Cup is in line with this. The competition is the climax of an action packed calendar of national skateboarding events being held around the country. This will allow Kumba Iron Ore to share its message of involvement in building good, healthy and stable lives for the people of the Northern Cape.
John Block, MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism in the Northern Cape, welcomed the announcement. "We are delighted to partner with a company that has such deep roots within our communities. The success of hosting mega-events such as the Kimberley Diamond Cup depends on strategic public-private partnerships. With the strong mining heritage of the Northern Cape, it is extremely appropriate that Kumba is coming on board as a presenting sponsor of this event, which will once again place the Northern Cape firmly in the global media spotlight. This will undoubtedly aid our efforts to establish Kimberley and the Northern Cape as a premier extreme and adventure sports destination while investing in the youth at the same time."
Kumba Iron Ore's CEO, Norman Mbazima sees sponsorship of this event as an opportunity to stimulate local economic development and tourism in the region. "We are committed to creating social upliftment opportunities around all our operations. Not just opportunities that affect us directly, but also opportunities that matter to the communities we operate in. For the youth, sporting events like the Kimberley Diamond Cup and the newly built skate parks are positive alternatives that will spur personal growth."
