MINISTER’S APOLOGY NOT ENOUGH - HEADS MUST ROLL

The recent match that was called off between Mbabane Swallows and Midas City on Sunday at the Somhlolo National Stadium because there were no lights, or rather because there was no one to switch on the floodlights, was an embarrassment to the country and the sports fraternity.

Swazis paid their hard-earned money to watch the football match, only to be told that the game had been called off because someone who had the ‘power’ to have the lights switched on had not been consulted. Some of these fans had borrowed that money in order to watch the game, while others had to forfeit money for buying meat or paying for their children’s bus fare to school.

While I commend the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, the Honourable David ‘Cruiser’ Ngcamphalala, for taking the cancellation of the game seriously through calling an urgent meeting with all concerned, I still feel strongly that this problem will not be resolved by a policy alone but heads must roll within government. The cat is out of the bag - the lights were working, only they were not switched on because of an irresponsible officer. I am failing to understand why the identity of the officer is being concealed. I would not be surprised to learn that the officer responsible had been promoted or transferred to another department or ministry.

I have said this before and I will continue to say it even today; this government is really ailing. If you do your job diligently, you get frustrated, and if you mess up you get rewarded. Cry the beloved country.
All having been said and done, I feel the person who is responsible for this mess should face some disciplinary measures. As members of the public, we deserve to know the punishment that he has received. Why is he being protected? As a nation we deserve to know this evil-hearted person.  We need to know if he does not have any conflict of interest in the games that were being played.

You might find that his favourite team was not ready for the game and therefore he decided on a strategy that would have the game postponed. This would give more time for his favourite team to prepare for the game.
We have previously seen this happening with some soccer clubs. There was a time when we always knew that if certain clubs were playing at the Trade Fair Ground and one team was being defeated, the lights would definitely go off even if the game was left with three minutes before the referee blew the whistle. Rumours started circulating that there were some fans who were responsible for switching off the lights because they were losing and therefore wanted a replay.

So, Honourable Minister, we appreciate your public apology but we still need to know what action has been taken against the officer. You can have the best policy ever but unless and until civil servants get punished for their wrongdoings, this problem will persist.
I believe you already have information on the officer responsible, so deal with him and then put a policy in place. In the policy, indicate what will happen to people like him who will go against the policy. In doing that, you will gain popularity among Swazis; in particular, among soccer fans.

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