The Western Cape is Proud of Its Paralympic Athletes

Bursting with pride, Minister Meyer said: "I am so proud of all our athletes. They have really done us proud. The Western Cape salutes each and every one, acknowledges their passion, commitment and dedication to the Olympic and Paralympic Spirit."

"The motto used for the Paralympics was 'Inspire a Generation' and over the past 11 days our athletes produced performances that indeed inspired and that will live in the memory forever," said Minister Meyer.

Western Cape SA Paralympic athletes made a significant contribution to the overall success of Team SA, claiming a total of 16 of the 29 medals won by Team South Africa at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Of the athletes, Dyan Buis won three medals while Arune Liebenberg, Arnu Fourie and Ilse Hayes each won two. Achmat Cassiem won two medals in swimming.

Fanie van der Merwe, Ilse Hayes and Arnu Fourie are the Western gold medallists.

Athletes from the Western Cape performed as follows:

Clearly the Paralympics was not just about the winners. The reaction from the enthusiastic well-wishers in response to the athletes' achievements certainly reflected that the Paralympics have made that old adage that "it's not the winning, it's the taking part that counts" even more relevant.