GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES E2M SPONSORSHIP FOR TALENT SEARCH

MBABANE – Soccer enthusiasts, arts and culture devotees should brace themselves for the upcoming tinkhundla talent search competition.

The news was announced by the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Bongani Nzima, during the launch of the E2 million sponsorship for the talent identification competition, held yesterday at the Lilunga House, Mbabane. Among the attendees was the Athletics Eswatini (AE) President Zakhele Dlamini, Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick Mngomezulu, Eswatini Sports and Recreational Council (ESRC) CEO Darius Dlomo and the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture  (ENCAC) CEO Stanley Dlamini. The minister said the talent search competition was actually a way to respond to the submissions that were made by emaSwati during Sibaya.

Competition

He said the competition was here to unearth talent and ensure that young people are placed in a path of decent and sustainable livelihoods.“During Sibaya last year, the call from emaSwati was simple and straightforward-‘let government come to the people.’ In saying that, emaSwati didn’t mean just the presence of government officials in their vicinity, but opportunities and resources to better their lives.  “So as the ministry responsible for sports, arts and the youth, this first-of-its-kind national competition is one of our responses. Our core mission is to empower young people to reach their full potential, using the development vehicles of sports, arts and culture,” Nzima said.

He mentioned that the talent search has the power to respond to one of the country’s greatest achilles heel, which is youth unemployment. He also disclosed that the competition would only be open to participants under the age of 35.“To underscore our focus and commitment to the country’s youth, the competition will be open to emaSwati below the age of 35, while the sporting sector will have an even tighter cut-off of 20 years. This is to ensure that athletes and upcoming artists can be identified early and the necessary investment made on them to ensure that they can maximise their talent and earn a living through their talents,” he added.

The competition will focus on specific categories under sports, arts and culture. In sports, the competition will be two-pronged, focusing on football and athletics. The arts sector will have five categories which include; dance, drama, choral, poetry and comedy. The culture category, it will consists of lutsango, sibhaca, ingadla and emajaha , where they will showcase their talent and passion, before  the competition  climaxes on August 31, 2024 at Somhlolo National Stadium, where the finals will take place. Meanwhile, Nzima further mentioned that the E2 million sponsorship will be split into two, E1.4 will go towards sports while, E600 000 will cover arts and culture. He also urged parents to allow their children to take part in the competition.

“I would like to urge all parents to allow their children to take part in the competition. I urge all young people to give their best and to be well behaved for the duration of the competition.  I also urge community leaders to work with us to curtail any corruption and violence that may wish to rear its ugly head in this competition.” On the other hand, the EFA CEO Frederick Mngomezulu disclosed that players for the MTN Premier League will not be allowed to take part in this competition, “I Just want to stress and make it clear that players for the Premier League and National First Division (NFD) will not take part in the competition as they are already professionals. They should give a chance to the young players at the regional level to take part,” Mngomezulu said.

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