Welcome to all athletes and in particular, a warm welcome to all the countries represented here!
We will leave it to you to decide about the weather of Durban or eThekwini as we prefer to call it, but while you figure out, we’ll have you know that while the rest of the nation is in winter, Durban is the warmest city in the country.
It has a history of great memorable performances for many athletes and over the next couple of days, there will be nonstop action and new champions.
There will be new records and superb performances. And I dare say that a number of upsets seem to be in the offing throughout this Track and Field extravaganza.
So, it goes without saying that where elite athletes clash, only quality performance can be expected and without doubt, athletics fans will get their money’s worth.
The Senior Championship offers the continent’s athletes their last big opportunity of top class competition on African soil before the Olympic Games in Rio de Jainero, Brazil in August.
As a national federation, this Meeting will offer us an opportunity to see our readiness following encouraging and even outstanding performances throughout what has been an amazing and awesome 2016 chapter of the ASA T&F season.
It will be an interesting five days of competition as many of the African athletes have already been setting records this year at almost all age levels and in the various events.
This, of course, augurs well for the continent as Africa prepares to tackle the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The format of this event is structured in such a way that fans and all athletics enthusiasts alike will be fully entertained throughout the days.
On behalf of Athletics South Africa, I thank the leadership of Hamad Malboum Kalkaba, the President of the Confederation of African Athletics, who supported every effort we put in preparing for this event.
I also thank the City of eThekwini for the providing us with a world class venue which we hope all athletes will come to appreciate, including all other things. We thank Fikile Mbalula, the Minister of Sport and Recreation for the unwavering support he has given us.
And indeed I congratulate our province and the entire local organising committee for the great work in putting together this great event.
One cannot forget all also those who have partnered with us including all those in the background who have been ensuring that athletes and all delegations are well catered for and looked after from the time they arrived.
And to all athletics fans, I wish you all a pleasant and tantalising experience.
I thank you.
Aleck Skhosana
President of Athletics South Africa