Times Of Swaziland: ALL AFRICA GAMES DILEMMA

ALL AFRICA GAMES DILEMMA
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BY SANELE JELE on 01/03/2019 03:43:00


MBABANE – Chances of athletes participating in the All Africa Games are slim.
These were observations of the Swaziland National Sports Recreation Council CEO
Darius Dlomo after having glance at the Budget Estimates delivered by the
Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg on Wednesday.
“Firstly, we wish to welcome the budget. We cannot complain as we understand
that the country is in fiscal crisis. We will have to work with what we have.
However, for our budget to be effective we need to prioritise some of our
projects,” Dlomo said.
He further highlighted that there was a lot on their plate with a limited
budget.
“We have the National Sports Awards, All Africa Games, and Shukuma Programme
to mention a few. To succeed in all our programmes we will have to make
sacrifices. Let me make it clear that with the limited budget we have, chances
of sending athletes to the All Africa Games would be slim, however, we will see
what we can do. This is just my observation,” the CEO said.
Meanwhile, Swaziland National Darts Association Secretary General Phumlani
‘Koki’ Ndwandwe said they had no choice but to accept the budget.
“We cannot complain because the country is in financial crises. We will have
to live within our limited allocation. We are calling upon the private sector to
support in general as it was one key pillar tourist attraction,” Ndwandwe
said.
Eswatini Athletes Association interim president Zakhele Dlamini said they had to
unite as a sport fraternity and figure out how they could raise funds.
“We cannot blame government, we have to find lasting solutions and revive our
sports,” Dlamini said.
The Swaziland National Sports Recreation Council were allocated a E6.72 million
with Sihlangu getting E5 million.The Zone VI Sports Programme has been allocated
E279 456 with Commonwealth Secretariat Youth Exchange at E442 546.
The 12th edition of the All Africa Youth Games will take place from August 23 to
September 3 this year.