Times Of Swaziland: I LIVE, EAT, BREATHE SPORTS - MAVIKANE

I LIVE, EAT, BREATHE SPORTS - MAVIKANE
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BY SPORTS REPORTER on 29/10/2020 00:50:00


He is an easily recognisable face in the sporting fraternity. Victor
‘Mavikane’ Dlamini is a name synonymous with a lot of people in sport. He
has been involved in local sport development for over 15 years now and commands
high respect from many. He puts a lot of hard work into everything that he does
because the word failure does not exist in his vocabulary.
In this face-to-face interview with SABELO NDZINISA, the free-spirited
‘Mavikane’ gives a background of his involvement in sport and why he feels
the vision of the current Athletics Eswatini (AE) led by Zakhele Dlamini is
destined to produce the desired results. It’s an interesting read, enjoy…
TIMES: Who exactly is Victor ‘Mavikane’ Dlamini?
MAVIKANE DLAMINI (MD): I was born and raised in Hlatikhulu in the Shiselweni
Region. I did my primary (Grade I and II) at Christ the King before moving to
Mbabane Central where I completed my education. I was staying at Sandla Township
at the time and went to the same class with the likes of the late ‘Koki’
Vilakati, Sdumo Mdladla and many others who all went on to become respected
citizens of this country. I come from a family of four with two brothers and two
sisters. Most people are not aware that I actually played for Mbabane Swallows
Under-17s from 1982 to 1984 before being promoted to the Under-20s. The
interesting part is that most of my friends who were staying at Sandla were
either supporters or played for Mbabane Highlanders. Even today, I am very close
to Highlanders people. During my school days at Mbabane Central, I was recruited
by Highway Never Die who were playing in the super league at the time. I played
there for a season as a striker and unfortunately, I had to go to tertiary which
meant taking a break from football. I went to William Pitcher College for
teaching practice and upon completion, my first school was ironically at Christ
the King where I did my primary. I was appointed sports teacher despite being
there for about six months and started developing a passion for athletics
because I was responsible for training athletes there. That is when I discovered
that I actually loved athletics more than football and I am very proud to have
managed to produce good athletes for the region. My school actually dominated
when it came to producing athletes who represented the region during the
inter-schools competitions. Unfortunately, I was transferred to Ka-Schiele High
in 1998 and hardly six months later, I was made sports teacher. I found seasoned
sports administrators like Bizzah Mkhonta, Musa Mamba and Anthony Mdluli in that
school. Ka-Schiele was famous for being excellent in athletics because we
dominated Mbabane competitions. Hhohho as a region was able to produce good
athletes for the country especially in relays.
TIMES: Tell us a bit about your time at Swaziland Schools Sports Association
(SSSA)
MD: I was elected secretary in 2004 and we were able to get a lot of sponsors
like KFC and Coca-Cola. I must say the efficiency of SSSA was there for everyone
to see because through soccer games, we were able to produce great talent like
Chocco Sibandze, Mzoro Dlamini, Maponyane (Bheki Mazibuko, the late former Royal
Leopard and Mbabane Swallows striker) and Darren Christie among others. After
four years in office, my executive lost the elections and Phumuza Ntshangase
took over as chairman with Dino Dlamini replacing me as secretary. There were no
hard-feelings about losing the elections and I was already teaching at Jubukweni
High school at the time. I was made sports teacher at that school and it is
where I started developing love for netball. I made history in the country by
leading the Jubukweni netball team to five consecutive victories in netball
competitions including KFC. We were dominant and that is how I got into netball.
During that time, stokvels were not allowed during schools competitions but all
that has changed now. Allowing schools to play stokvels is killing the
development of sport in my view. The only way to rectify this is for is for head
teachers to sit down with SSSA and work on correcting the current situation.
SSSA must manage school competitions and at the rate things are being done,
development is dead now.
TIMES: What is the importance of SSSA in as far as sport development is
concerned?
MD: This association is very important for the development of sport in the
country. Without development, we are not going anywhere as a country in sport.
SSSA must be vibrant because development starts at schools. The efficiency of
the association, therefore, becomes very important.
TIMES: Your netball journey, tell us how it all started?
MD: My success with the Jubukweni netball team rewarded me with recognition in
the sport. A lot of netball teams competing in the national leagues were
scouting for good talent in my school team, which I was coaching and training.
Teams like Correctional and SUFIAW recruited my players and this happened around
the time when there were to be elections for the new netball association
executive committee. I was duly elected the secretary of the association in 2005
as teams showed confidence in me. I was then recruited by Maswazi Shongwe who
was Sports Director in the Ministry of Home Affairs to manage their netball team
in the ministry. I was able to recruit players from Phophonyane and Ngwane
Central to join Home Affairs. The team performed well but the transition of home
affairs to sports, culture and youth affairs ministry disrupted our progress. I
then attended a netball congress in Pretoria where netball Africa was to elect a
new executive. Believe or not, I was elected general secretary for Netball
Africa, a high recognition for me. Unfortunately, there was campaign in the
local association to remove officials from leadership and as fate would have it,
I was not elected into the new office and I was therefore forced to relinquish
my position at Netball Africa, which was a blow for the country. That is how I
left netball.
TIMES: Interesting indeed…now share with us your experiences as Eswatini
Olympics and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA) Board member and how it
happened?
MD: I joined SOCGA (EOCGA now) in 2008 as a Board member after elections where I
was made Board member, a position I held for two consecutive terms from 2008 to
2016. Being part of the Olympic Committee opened my mind in sporting issues and
made me to appreciate all sports the same way. I took part in useful courses,
which exposed me to international travels. My first trip was to Zambia Congress
for sports for all before attending the same course in Botswana. I was appointed
Chef De Mission when local athletes went to the Isle of Man in England for the
Youth Commonwealth Games. I attended another conference in Peru at a place
called Lima. My last trip was at Samoa for the Youth Commonwealth Games. I was
able to grow through SOCGA because that is where I developed love for all
sports.
TIMES: You made quite a big name for yourself at Matsapha United. What were your
highlights during your time there?
MD: Some people do not know that I was first PRO (Public Relations Officer) for
Tinyosi FC who were playing in the first division at the time.  I stayed there
for a season but the team was relegated and I was in the wilderness for about
two years before the Matsapha United offer came knocking at my door. Initially,
I went there to work in the marketing department but a year later, I was made
the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the team. I gained quite a lot in terms of
football administration experience because I was part of a project which I
embraced as good vision by the team owners. The team had a number of good
players and this team came with great vibe after winning a wide support base
around Matsapha within a short space of time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at
the team to be honest because I got the exposure of working with other PROs and
learnt a lot from them. There was always competition of being trying to be
better, which developed me as PRO because I had to apply creative tactics to
capture the imagination of football people and win their hearts. I was also able
to foster good social relationships with a lot of people in football.
TIMES: How did you become involved in athletics and can you assess the standard
of the sport in the country?
MD: I was first approached by Zakhele Dlamini, who is now Athletics Eswatini
President, to help him market the Lubombo marathon. This was a big event
organized by his athletics club TZD but because of COVID-19, the event could not
continue. Dlamini again approached me to become PRO of Athletics Eswatini and
when I looked at their vision, I was immediately impressed because I could see
the direction they wanted to take. It has been wonderful working with them so
far and I must mention that I also worked as PRO for Manzini Athletics Club,
which was for a short time due to professional reasons. The long layoff due to
COVID-19 affected a lot of athletes because their fitness levels were not up to
scratch. This was evident during the first build-up to the national athletics
championships where the athletes struggled but it was a better showing in the
second build-up as you could tell that the fitness level had improved. I can
declare confidently that the finals of the championships this weekend will be
the best ever in the history of the sport. Athletics fanatics should not miss
out.