South African tennis fans will be excited to hear that the Africa Cares Tennis Challenge event is back after being postponed due to the discovery of the Covid-19 omicron variant causing travel restrictions just weeks before the event was set to take place last year.

The event is set to take place from 3 to 4 December at Wanderers stadium. This will be a two-day tennis tournament that will see both international and local tennis sensations showcase their talent, for a good cause. The players participating will be announced over the next couple of weeks through the Africa Cares Tennis social media platforms

The event aims to not only promote tennis in South Africa but is also a vehicle in the fight against Gender-Based Violence through campaigns and activations leading up to the main event. Therefore fans can expect to enjoy and embrace the concept of tennis whilst also highlighting the issue of gender-based violence in South Africa which has now been perceived as a threat to humanity and the CEO of TR Brand and Communications & Events and Representative of Africa Cares highlighted the importance of this event. “Women in South Africa are 5 times more likely to be killed as a result of gender-based violence. As a protest and plea to stop GBV in South Africa we saw it fit to host the Africa Cares Tennis Challenge.

We want to use the impact of sport to help inspire positive change” – Tendai Rukwava, CEO of TR Brand Communications &Events. Earlier in the year in partnership with Mercedes Benz Sandton, Africa Cares Tennis Challenge hosted the Gender-Based Violence Power Breakfast. It was held under the theme ‘How industry leaders can play their part in the fight against GBV’. Leading up to this event was also a Tennis Masterclass that was hosted by Miles Maclagan in May at the University of Pretoria in South Africa where he shared his knowledge on how South African tennis coaches can better their coaching skills. Not only did the coaches benefit from this clinic but young and aspiring future professional tennis players engaged with Miles Maclagan.

Tendai Rukwava, CEO of TR Brand Communications & Events and Representative of the Africa Cares Tennis Event said, “After having to postpone the Africa Cares Event, we are very excited for December.
Some organizations supporting the event include Unicef South Africa, MOT, Sun International, Mercedes Benz Sandton, Dunlop, SABC Sport and Gauteng North Tennis Development”.

[Submitted by Kevin Rademeyer]