HAYLEY HOY, SIHLELELWE MATSEBULA, SHALULILE FOR RASA

MBABANE – Two outstanding junior athletes from Eswatini have made it to the Regional Annual Sports Awards (RASA) finals alongside South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and Namibia star striker Peter Shalulile.

RASA is a Region V premier event that celebrates sporting excellence from the 10-member countries. These countries are Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Billed for June 24 in Eswatini, outstanding local swimmer Hayley Hoy and excelling taekwondo karate star Sihlelelwe Matsebula will represent the country.

The Eswatini Swimming Association’s Hayley and the Eswatini taekwondo Federation’s Dlamini are the only two locals who have made it to the finals. Eswatini had thrown in nine candidates for the awards and these are the winners of the 2023 National Sports Awards. During a press conference held at the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC), Stanley Mutoya, announced the names of the finalists in the presence of the Sports Minister, Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga and Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council (ESRC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Darius Dlomo. “Today I shall give you the names of the nominees who were able to make it to the final three under each category. These individuals are expected to be the ones competing for the gong on the final day under our 12 categories,” Mutoya said.

Outstanding

Mutoya explained that only three outstanding nominees will contend for each category award from the 10 countries.  The 11th and 12th category were not announced but it was explained that it was because one was best country and the other federation of the Year. These will be known on awards day. Eight nations out of the 10 will participate as Angola and Lesotho did not express interest to return this year after a three-year absence from RASA.
Meanwhile, outgoing Minister Bulunga expressed his excitement for Hayley and Dlamini for making it to the finals.

Awards

“It might look like a small number, but it is a start. In the last edition of the awards in 2019, I looked like a stranger in that room in Namibia, when the awards were hosted there as there was liswati. Obviously as a country, we would have wished for more athletes but there is still a lot that needs to be done. However, we are hoping for increased numbers next year,” Bulunga said. Notable is that DStv Premiership side, Sundowns forward Shalulile also made the cut as expected given his documented exploits. He is the highlight of the finalists in the award. His country went on to dominate finalists as it has six nominees alongside South Africa and Botswana. Zimbabwe has the least candidates as it has only one.

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