Durban — Go!Durban Academy students received a heroes’ welcome from eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda at the King Shaka International Airport on Wednesday, this was after collecting 51 medals at the World Championship of the Performing Arts held in the US.
The youngstars were drawn from various schools, including Mqhawe High school, JG Zuma High School, Northmead Secondary School, Crystal Point Secondary and Mvaba High School.
They brought home 51 gold medals and 18 silver medals after competing against participants from 70 countries.
The team won the Senior Grand Champions of the World for Group Vocal 2023 and the Senior Grand Champions of the World for Group Dance 2023 categories. Kaunda said the municipality would continue to support “these young stars”.
“This shows that eThekwini will always win with all the catastrophic incidents that we have experienced. As the city we are able to show the world the other part of Durban. They (theteam) deserve huge applause for that. They are our champions, they showed the world how things are done in Durban,’’ said Kaunda.
He also urged the young stars to also excel in their academics.
“Even in your studies we want you to achieve the same, pass with distinctions. We urge togetherness and support from everyone, including their parents. We as a municipality will also support them,” he said.
One of the Go!Durban Academy team members, Sibusiso Msomi, expressed his gratitude to Go!Durban and Transport Authority for believing in them.
“This journey started back in 2018, we are very grateful to Go!Durban and the Transport Authority for taking chances on us. No one knew that today this would happen, now we are world champions.
“We didn’t expect to receive such an amazing welcome. This is encouraging and we are very grateful to everyone who supported us including our parents,” said Msomi.
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Daily News