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GOVT UKWABAYA IBHOLA NGELIPLANGO

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My dearest readers ...

Unlike Pastor Jeremiah Dlamini, I will not say I was not aware that when His Majesty King Mswati III spoke about someone’s head being hit by a plank he was referring to a well-known pastor. One thing I know is that Prime Minister (PM) Cleopas Dlamini’s press statement that permits a maximum of 500 people being allowed at outdoor entertainment events yet spectators are not allowed into stadiums actually feels like football ikwabayeka enhloko ngeliplango (is being hit on the head with a wooden plank) - literally.

There is a sense of déjà vu about the latest decision by government, in particular after the concerted efforts by football in leading a crusade for the vaccination programme in which in just two weeks, close to 4 000 people got vaccinated. It feels like a stab in the heart – literally.

roadshows

I feel for the vaccinated soccer fans who have been part of the ‘Bring back fans into stadiums’ campaign and roadshows because in one roll of the dice, government has turned her back on them. In all the different industries in the country, football has been the most vocal and went further to put up a programme to help government reach its goal of having at least seventy per cent of the population vaccinated.

But when the opportunity came to incentivise or to keep the industry going, government has literally disregarded football. How do you explain allowing 500 people to an outdoor entertainment arena – vaccinated or not – but fail to allow the same number of people who are vaccinated into an open area like a stadium, with more than 3 000 seating capacity?

It beggars belief how government reached such an inane decision. Yes, government can point towards being guided by scientific recommendations and all, but you would rather allow 500 vaccinated fans inside a stadium than allowing 500 people who are not vaccinated in an enclosed entertainment area. Football, I dare say, is the only industry that can put in place measures to ensure only the vaccinated fans get into the stadium even if its 1 000 or 2 000 of them.

We have already seen it in South Africa with, the South African Football Association (SAFA) allowing 2 000 fans to watch the Bafana Bafana versus Ethiopia 2022 World Cup qualifier last week Tuesday. It was a successful pilot project and now Cricket SA will be doing the same and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) intends to do the same with the MTN 8 Cup final on October 30, at the artistic Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

Why can’t we do the same even if the numbers are lower? I am starting to believe that government views football as nothing more than umdlalo nje. It is this laissez-faire approach that has undermined an industry that employs so many people and it is the biggest single event organiser in the country.

Good

The only industry that on a good day – like the Ingwenyama Cup or EswatiniBank Cup finals – can bring as many as 15 000 people to one place for 90 minutes.
Not even one of our national events has the power to do so. So why treat such an industry with disdain? Government can’t be serious. Government is speaking with a forked tongue on the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

If the same government allows kombis to operate on full capacity with no social distancing every day, but cannot allow vaccinated fans inside an open area like a stadium, then surely you begin to wonder what else does the football industry need to do in order to be taken seriously. Government, in particular, the PM, Cleopas Dlamini, a former Mbabane Highlanders Board of Directors member, needs to seriously consider assisting the football industry to survive.

It is dying a slow excruciating death. Without soccer fans, football has no soul. Without gate-collections, our teams will die a natural death. Already the club bosses are scraping the bottom of a barrel. The statement by Umlangeni in allowing 500 people to outdoor entertainment events, but not allowing 500 vaccinated fans into a stadium beggars belief. We are being short-changed here. Sikwabayeka enhloko ngeliplango, strue!

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