MBABANE – The 12th Parliament Cabinet ministers have reversed a decision by the previous cabinet to stop the Sports Bill.
In the 11th Parliament, former Minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga once told parliament that the overdue tabling of the 2020 bill to parliament was a decision by cabinet.
This was reportedly because government sought to streamline its parastatals, yet the bill aims to establish another one in the Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council (ESRC).
Currently, the ESRC carries out its responsibilities through a memorandum from the Public Enterprise Unit (PEU).
It will then be the structure established and regulated to house and operationalise the act.
However, Minister Bongani Nzima two days ago, provided positive progress regarding the bill.
During a parliamentary debate on the ministry’s first-quarter performance report on Wednesday, Nzima said the countdown to its tabling is on.
“We recall that there are people (MPs) who had threatened that they wouldn’t do certain things (approve budget) if the Sports Bill is still not approved.
“We acknowledged that and we’ve taken it to Cabinet where it has been approved with an amendment,” Nzima said.
Back in March, MPs had threatened not to approve the 2025/26 budget if the bill was still not tabled in Parliament.
The minister further said this amendment meant that consultations must be held with the Ministry of Finance to determine where levies will be imposed to collect money to professionalise sports in the country. It is worth noting that some areas for levies, among others, include tickets, sponsorships, fundraising events, sports products, accreditation and consumer tax. Nzima also mentioned that the bill had listed many areas, as suggestions though but had to be redirected before being tabled in Parliament.
“So we have a meeting on Friday (today) at 8:30am with him (Minister for Finance Neal Rijkenberg) for him to guide and allocate us on items to impose levy, and then the Sports Bill will be tabled in Parliament,” he added. He also added that, given the urgency Parliament desires, they would push for it to be tabled very soon. It is worth noting that Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini is also expected to move a motion that will see the ministry table it within 21 days once the motion is passed.
According to Dlamini’s expected motion, as per parliamentary order papers, this will ensure swift consideration and passage for the benefit of the nation. The Sports Bill promises many benefits to the sports fraternity, such as the establishment of the National Sports Development Fund. This fund will collect and distribute levies for the ministry and will further transform sports from a leisure activity into a professional industry, creating jobs for athletes and attracting sponsorships for clubs.
Furthermore, a Sports Act would ensure that the government fully recognises sports in the country as part of human development, compelling the investment of more resources into the sector for infrastructure, athlete development, and improved international participation.
It is worth noting that the ministry is just relishing completing the refurbishment of Somhlolo National Stadium, which has been a thorny issue among the nation since 2022 after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) placed a ban on the 57-year-old facility. Actually, the headache for the country dated back to 2019 when CAF started freezing and unfreezing the facility on grounds of not meeting a number of minimum international stadium standards. However, renovations have been completed and the CAF Stadium Inspection Team is already here to assess if it meets the standards.
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