Hezekiel Sepeng explains the idea behind his debut invitational meet in Potch

Sepeng, who works full-time as the High-Performance Manager at Athletics South Africa (ASA), says the meeting has already received recognition from World Athletics as a Continental Tour Challenger, and he expects some of the best athletes from across Africa and beyond to compete.

In previous years ASA organised the Grand Prix series, but this season those meetings have been replaced by the Sepeng Invitational and the Simbine Classic, hosted by South African sprint star Akani Simbine. 

Sepeng says he is proud that South Africa is now embracing the global tradition of naming athletics meetings after legendary athletes. 

The 51-year-old former Olympic star says the idea of hosting his own meeting has been a long-held dream, and he worked tirelessly behind the scenes to turn it into reality. 

With just a few weeks to go before the inaugural event, Sepeng says it is a proud moment for him to see the meet finally coming to life in the town that shaped his career.

He believes the event will not only celebrate his legacy but also create opportunities for the next generation of athletes to compete at a high level on home soil.

"Ive always pushed that we need to honour the people who have done very well. Later in the year, the Akani Simbine Classic will take place, and this will maintain consistency when it comes to track and field.

"If you look at road running in South Africa, most events are organised privately and there's a lot of consistency there."

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Sepeng admits that organising a meeting of this magnitude has not been easy, particularly without major sponsors. 

For now, he relies on support from his provincial structures, close partners and friends who believe in the vision of the event.

Despite the financial limitations, Sepeng says hosting the meeting as a Continental Tour Challenger makes the project more manageable and still allows quality competition to take place.

"Look at the moment we don't have sponsors, but obviously Central North West Athletics will assist the Sepeng project that is run in Pretoria under my younger brother.

"This event doesn't need a big budget, but the main thing was to start it off as a challenger which does not need a big budget and to see it grow."