EASING OF BAN BY PM WELCOME

Easing ban on local sports is a very bold but welcome decision by government.

I respect real people who say what they mean and mean what they say – no fluff, no lies and no pretence. The truth is, none of us are easy to understand, deal with or please all the time. We have our vices, attitudes, and way of doing things that make us unique. So, you won’t like everything about a person, it’s impossible. This is life, and it is not about being perfect, there’s no such thing. The sporting fraternity received the long-awaited and welcomed news from the Government of Eswatini through the voice of Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini that for now, non-contact sports will be allowed to return to action albeit with strict adherence to laid-down health precautions.

SPORTS LOVERS

This is what a lot of sports lovers in the country have been waiting patiently to hear from the country’s authorities and I am sure these news have been met with pure joy. Well and good, but we still need to tread cautiously and appreciate that the current COVID-19 era means that things will never be normal. The behaviour needs to change and responsibility should be the buzzword in the minds of all those sporting codes that have been given the green light to resume action. It is important that those chosen and fortunate sporting codes do not get carried away with excitement but be sober at all times during this period, as they do what they have missed so much over the past months.

It is understandable that they will be happy to play the sports they enjoy the most but they should not lose sight of the harsh reality the world is facing, battling against this global pandemic that is stealing the lives and souls of our loved ones every day. It is no longer a laughing matter because no one is safe really and some would question the timing of the decision to ease the ban on some sporting codes when the confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 are rising daily. The death toll in the country, as statistics show, is fast approaching the 20 mark and for a country with a population of plus or minus one million (the same population as Soweto location in South Africa), you have every reason to be concerned.

MIXED FEELINGS

With such statistics and health officials saying that the peak period of this virus is still to come, those with mixed feelings on the return of some sports are justified to feel that way. It does, to some extent, appear as a risky call but let us give the country’s authorities the benefit of doubt on this one. After all, the smart ones would always say that failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure. In these difficult times, we cannot wait for things to get easier, simpler or better because as COVID-19 has demonstrated, life will always be complicated. We should learn to be happy and content with things as they are right now lest we find ourselves running out of time. 
As the 11 sporting codes given the green light to resume activities celebrate, my message to them is that discussion is always better than argument because argument is to find out who is right yet discussion is to find out what is right. Arguing and debating who is right won’t flush away COVID-19, but we need to act as responsible citizens of the country in the sporting fraternity.

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