Government partnership a boost for Special Olympics National Games

The 2026 Special Olympics National Summer Games will play a crucial role in identifying athletes who could go on to represent South Africa at the 2027 Special Olympics World Games in Santiago, Chile. 

The event will be hosted at Rustenburg High School in North West from 28-30 August.

The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities and the North West provincial government have thrown their support behind the Games, joining hands with the Special Olympics. 

Speaking to SABC Sport, Smith says the partnership with government structures is allowing the organisation to spread awareness more broadly than in previous years.

“What’s exciting for me about this is that we’re seeing more support coming in from different government departments both nationally and on a local level. That’s what we want for Special Olympics, is that our athletes are starting to get recognition from government and also this is really helping us to create awareness much more broadly than we were able to do previously when we were hosting on our own,” said Smith

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She added that taking the decision to host the games in Rustenburg was influenced by the North West government offering to host the event, while also providing an opportunity for different communities to be exposed to the work the organisation does.

Smith has revealed that the organisation will also host a six-discipline health screening programme, which will screen all of the athletes participating at the National Games. As part of the process, more than 51 medical professionals in the North West province will be trained in protocols to work with people with intellectual disabilities.