Vodacom has once again donated R150 000 for every goal scored by a local team during the 2011 Vodacom Challenge soccer tournament to facilitate cataract surgeries.

Initiated in 2008, the ‘Goals for Miracles' campaign will see thousands of South Africans benefit from free cataracts surgery countrywide. This initiative forms part of Vodacom's commitment to improving community access to healthcare.

This initiative coincided with the Vodacom Challenge which took place from 16 to 23 June 2011. Prominent English football team, Tottenham Hotspurs (Spurs) took on local soccer rivals, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates FC, for the main prize.

The ‘Goals for Miracles' campaign will help to raise awareness about cataracts. "Not many people are aware that cataracts slowly cause vision loss and lead to blindness if corrective surgery is not conducted" says Mthobi Tyamzashe, Vodacom's Executive Director for CSI.

According to research conducted by the SA National Council for the Blind, an estimated 350 000 people in South Africa are in need of cataract surgery, and close to 80% of this number live in rural areas. Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide and in South Africa; more than 50% of blindness is caused by this condition.

"The ‘Goals for Miracles' campaign allowed local soccer players to produce outstanding performances by using their soccer skills to help some of the 350 000 sufferers obtain access to cataract surgery in South Africa. For every goal scored, close to 54 South African cataracts sufferers will receive free operations," adds Tyamzashe.

As in the past, the operations will be performed by the partner organisations of the Vodacom Foundation: the South African National Council of the Blind (SANCB), the Pretoria Eye Institute and Netcare.

A check for R450 000 was handed over to Council’s Chairperson, Adv. Lucky Bokaba, at the final game between Pirates and the Spurs on Saturday 23 July at Coca- Cola Park in Johannesburg. This money gets utilised used by Council’s Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness who sends mobile eye care tours to South Africa’s rural areas and performs eye screenings, refractions services, and cataract operations, etc.