Times Of Swaziland: PUBLIC OUTCRY AS…PM URGED  TO INCREASE  SPORTS  BUDGET

PUBLIC OUTCRY AS…PM URGED  TO INCREASE  SPORTS  BUDGET
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Nimrod Hlophe on 24/02/2024 06:58:00


MBABANE - The Prime Minister (PM), Russell Dlamini, has been urged to increase
sports funding towards infrastructure development in the country.
The premier on Thursday called upon the members of the public who wished to ask
him questions on pertinent national issues to do so on his Facebook page. On his
page, Dlamini said, “I’ll be meeting local editors and journalists to answer
their questions on pertinent, national issues next week. I know you also have a
lot of questions to ask me. So, I’d like to hear from you, as well: please
comment with your questions below, using the hashtag #AskThePM. I’ll pick the
best five and answer them during the Editors’ Forum next week.”
One of the Facebook users took the opportunity to take him on pressing sports
issues. “Is your administration planning to increase the funding of sports in
Eswatini, as well as assisting with the international required infrastructure
for us to genuinely compete on the international stage?” the user asked. The
Facebooker said this would not happen overnight, but with the necessary support,
the country could eventually host at least regional games like the Council of
Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) championships and athletics
competitions, among others. It was said that such big stage tournaments could
boost the tourism sector.
“It is painful that our national team Sihlangu play their home games in
neighbouring South Africa, which means Sihlangu, their opponents and both
teams’ supporters are supporting another country’s economy,” the Facebook
user said. During the Sibaya People’s Parliament held last year in October,
some who made submissions encouraged government to construct a new stadium as
currently Eswatini has no international accredited stadium or a sports arena.
Notable is that the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) last month revealed that
they spent about E700 000 for home-away-from-home games which are played at
Mbombela Stadium. Some of the costs include stadium hire which stood at E120 000
last year and there is also the transportation of office and personnel to
Mpumalanga.
Preliminary
Meanwhile, Eswatini is expected to host Somalia on the March 26, 2024 in the
2025 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) preliminary rounds. However,
the national budget speech on Monday might prematurely clear the air if
government will heed to the public call instead of waiting in bated breath for
Wednesday.