By David Gold

SA2 8_MarchMarch 9 - South Africans will vote for a Team South Africa mascot for all major international sports events starting with this summer's London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.


The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) want to create a national identity around the team for future international competitions.

"The South African sports fraternity needs something to associate with our multi-sports events," said SASCOC chief executive Tubby Reddy.

"The more awareness we can build around the brand of Team South Africa, the more support we can hopefully generate for the team on the international stage."

Regarding the London 2012 mascot, design agencies were invited to identify and design a mascot to reflect South Africa's sporting identity.

Six designs (pictured below) have made the final cut.

teamsamascot
These designs will feature in South African lifestyle magazines such as You, Drum and Huisgenoot, with the public voting via text message for their favourite.

Voting lasts for a week and the winning agency will be notified in early March.

The winning mascot will be unveiled at the same time as the kit launch for this summer's Olympic and Paralympics in Johannesburg on April 4.

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