PE bodybuilders beef up SA team for world event

SEVEN Port Elizabeth musclemen will represent South Africa at the World Bodybuilding Championships in France next month.

The group – Fraser Vernon, Goodman Gqomo, Athenkosi Momo, Luxolo Ntshonga, Given Nduna, Umeng Ebenong and Wesley Regnart – were selected when they represented Eastern Province at the National Natural Bodybuilding Championships in Cape Town early this month.

The SA team comprises eight other members from the Western Cape and one from Gauteng.

EP Natural Bodybuilding Association secretary Godfrey Simmons said the national championships had more than 100 participants from around the country.

"We had an excellent show. The selection was based on performance and the guys proved their worth. They did the Eastern Cape proud."

Simmons said he doubted the team would wear South African colours because only bodybuilders who belonged to a unified structure could be issued Proteas colours.

He said there was no unified structure in bodybuilding in South Africa.

"The SA Natural Bodybuilding Association has sent an urgent appeal to the sports minister to hold a bodybuilding indaba, so unity in the sport can be concluded once and for all.

"We ask that all bodybuilding federations ... be invited to this indaba to make it an inclusive process."

He said there were six natural bodybuilding federations in South Africa, but only the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness SA was recognised by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and their members given SA colours in international tournaments.