MINISTER, MPS’ SILENCE IS DEAFENING

My dearest readers ... Now that I have your attention, let me mention my intention.

This Tuesday morning, June 6, 2017, I want to bring it to the attention of the Members of Parliament, especially the Sports Portfolio Committee and the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, David ‘Cruiser’ Ngcamphalala, that they can fool some people at times but they cannot fool people all the time.
I want to tell them, without fear of contradiction that their silence on Mbabane Swallows’ amazing exploits in the CAF Confederation Cup, is deafening. Some of us are not impressed with the way they handle matters or even personalising issues. It smacks of that ‘freedom of fools’ – jealousy. It is cheap politicking and cannot go unchallenged.

When Royal Leopard were on the brink of qualifying for the premium CAF Champions League group stages in 2015, the members of Parliament during a debate spent hours ululating and giving the police side rave reviews for their efforts. They ran short of asking government to reward the police side financially for raising the country’s flag sky high. One would have thought ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’ had won the CAF Champions league.  Granted, the police side had done considerably well but they had not qualified for the group stages. Get me right, there was nothing wrong with praising them for their efforts. It was the right thing to do just like paying your TV licence.
But here we go again, Mbabane Swallows have gone one step further than Leopard – actually qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup group stages where they still have a mathematical chance of reaching the knockout stages.

Their journey in the tournament has seen the club spend close to E3 million from their own club boss, Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze’s pockets. They have not only put the country’s name on the map but they have achieved something that NO other team in this country has achieved. Yet what has government through the Ministry done? What have the MPs’, who were vocal about Leopard or the non-renewal of Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga’s coaching contract at Sihlangu said?
Nothing. Zilch. Fokol. Nada. Dololo.
Instead – and they should be ashamed of themselves – a person of no less stature than His Majesty King Mswati III has already commended Mbabane Swallows for putting the country’s name on top of the African Map and urged the red and white outfit to continue doing the country proud.

Why is the minister, for starters, burying his head on the sand like the proverbial Ostrich? Is it because this is not a team where he was once an official in like Leopard? Why is government not supporting Swallows like the other governments in the continent do to their representatives?
This is ludicrous!
MC Alger jetted into the country last Tuesday using a chartered plane provided by their own government, flying 11 hours to Swaziland from home. Swallows will not fly less than 28 hours to Algeria next week as they have to go via Dubai to reach that north African country.  I am not saying government should fund Swallows’ Africa Cup campaign but that little support, in whatever form - even by mere word of mouth – can go a long way in motivating a team that is not representing itself but the country. It is Swaziland’s flag that is flown in the stadiums where Swallows play, not a Swallows flag.

This is about the country, not Swallows or the club boss Victor Gamedze, a man we know many love to hate out of sheer jealousy for turning his lemons into lemonade with his life. Already his company, Swazi Mobile has led the way in allowing soccer fans FREE entry in two important games, which is an idea government, through the ministry, should have been first to applaud. But no, the minister and his cohorts in Parliament are turning a blind eye. They can’t even watch a full CAF match at Somhlolo, for crying out loud!
These are the very same people who were dancing like the pelvis-gyrating ‘Babes Wodumo’ in the august House when Leopard came within whisker of qualifying for the group stages. These are the same people who questioned the integrity of the Premier League of Swaziland (PLS) just because Swallows were a dominant force. The very same people who were frothing in the mouth when the FA failed to renew the contract of Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga, for God-knows-why.

I know, in Parliament, heroes were long replaced by celebrities and true politicians disappeared and there came rhetoricians. If you were to ask me to find a gifted speaker in the present Parliament, you would be actually asking me to pick a virgin at the Mbabane Government Maternity ward! Swallows has done this country a world of good. People around the continent now know that there is actually some football being played in Swaziland. This country has been infamous for the HIV/AIDS prevalence, shrinking economy, an absolute Monarchy, but for once there is some positive wave about Swaziland coming from the football front. Let us cherish and embrace it. Let us build on it instead of politicising it or/and even suppressing it.
Mr Minister and your cohorts in Parliament, you can do better than this ...

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