President Cyril Ramaphosa has commended the outstanding performance of South Africa\u2019s national team, which excelled at this year\u2019s Special Olympics World Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competing against 7 000 athletes from over 180 countries at the Special Olympics World Games in Germany in June 2023, the national team returned with 22 gold, 20 silver and seven bronze medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Special Olympics is a global movement of people creating a new world of inclusion and community, where every person is welcome, regardless of ability or disability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur success in the Special Olympics shows what happens when government and civil society \u2013 represented here by Special Olympics South Africa \u2013 work together to ensure that we leave no one behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSouth Africa is honoured to be one of the first countries to support the Special Olympics Global Leadership Coalition for Inclusion, which reflects our commitment to the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in all areas of our society,\u201d the President said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having hosted a number of national teams at the Union Buildings as part of government\u2019s celebration for outstanding achievements by athletes in various sporting codes, the President expressed pride in Team South Africa\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are proud that Team South Africa flew the flag for social inclusion and the advancement of human rights, which are a hallmark of the nation we have built during nearly 30 years of freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTeam South Africa are heroes we can look up to and be inspired by in athletic arenas and in every walk of life in our country. May our commitment to inclusion as a nation shine as brightly as the achievements of our Special Olympics Team,\u201d President Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the team\u2019s dedication, perseverance and unwavering commitment to their sport has not only brought glory to the nation but it has also shattered the barriers that once confined them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team is being led by Chairperson of Special Olympics South Africa, Dr Mathews Phosa, who was recently honoured at the 19th Special Olympics Africa Leadership Conference in Addis Ababa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith such a hard-working and distinguished captain at the helm of Special Olympics South Africa we can only expect even greater things from Team South Africa,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phosa spoke about the importance of the inclusion of people with an intellectual disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur athletes want to be heard and they demand inclusion, respect and equal opportunities. They declare that they are here to show the world their talents and abilities. They deserve nothing else but our unwavering support,\u201d he said. \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Cyril Ramaphosa has commended the outstanding performance of South Africa\u2019s national team, which excelled at this year\u2019s Special Olympics World Games. Competing against 7 000 athletes from over 180 countries at the Special Olympics World Games in Germany in June 2023, the national team returned with 22 gold, 20 silver and seven bronze medals. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,35],"tags":[39,41,523],"class_list":["post-7123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-focus","category-in-the-news","tag-disability","tag-disability-connect","tag-sa-special-olympics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}