Takuma, the mascot for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) football tournament, will become the mascot for all sport in South Africa, the sports ministry has announced.

A hippo who wears a yellow sports kit, Takuma was designed by a pupil at Dikgorwaneng Primary School, in Hammanskraal, and was unveiled as the Afcon mascot at a draw last month in Durban.

“We are taking this mascot forward as a sports mascot,” Deputy Sports Minister Gert Oosthuizen said on Tuesday.

“Takuma will be the mascot you will see for many years to come.”

Oosthuizen was speaking at the prize giving, in Hammanskraal, of the schools competition for the design of the mascot.

Shingo, the mascot which placed second in the competition, would be used for school sports in future, and Hagozonke, which was third, would be the mascot for the promotion of drug-free sport.

Dikgorwaneng Primary received soccer and netball equipment for winning the competition, and a R1000 food hamper.

By Sapa