The decision by the Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council (ESRC) to prohibit night-time international road travel for all national teams and clubs, mandating flight for assignments beyond our immediate neighbours, is more than just a policy change; it is a profound declaration.
It is a bold, long-overdue statement that prioritises the safety, dignity and competitiveness of Team Eswatini above short-term fiscal convenience. The courage of the Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council (ESRC). This move is non-negotiable, essential and forms the bedrock of a truly professional sporting system.
The core of this policy is simple: Mechanical faults and safety concerns are exponentially amplified under the cover of darkness. While this is the stated rationale, the benefits and necessity of this decision span far wider, touching on athlete welfare, national brand protection and long-term performance.
For too long, the story of athletic success in smaller nations has been twinned with narratives of logistical hardship. The mental image of our athletes – our national heroes – crammed onto buses, travelling hundreds of kilometres overnight through arduous terrain, is one that diminishes the national pride we seek to project.
The mechanical fault risk is genuine, particularly when vehicles are stressed over long international distances. A breakdown at 2am in a remote location is not merely an inconvenience; it is a major safety hazard. Beyond the internal vehicular issues, travel through the Southern African region at night introduces a host of external risks – risks that wealthy nations would never tolerate for their representatives. These include poor visibility, stray livestock, insufficient road lighting, and, regrettably, the increased threat of crime, particularly in high-risk transit zones near metropolitan areas, where ‘smash-and-grab’ incidents and opportunistic crime are well-documented realities. Putting our national assets – our athletes – at the mercy of these conditions is an unacceptable gamble.
Furthermore, this policy is fundamentally a performance-enhancing measure. Athletes arriving at a major competition after two nights spent travelling by air are fresh, recovered and mentally prepared. Athletes arriving after two nights spent cramped on a bus, jolting over potholes, subjected to noise and poor sleep quality, are fatigued and disadvantaged before the whistle has even blown. A ban on night road travel ensures that for any serious international assignment, our teams arrive rested and ready to compete on a level playing field. The dignity of arriving as professionals, rather than exhausted survivors, cannot be understated. This policy transforms travel from a gruelling obstacle into a strategic element of the preparation phase.
A dangerous, albeit predictable, reaction to this necessary increase in travel expenditure might be the suggestion to reduce squad sizes to offset the cost of flights. This must be resisted fiercely by the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs.
Squad sizes in most international tournaments are governed by the rules of the respective global sporting bodies. These limits are set to ensure fairness, competitiveness and player welfare, allowing for adequate rotation, medical coverage, and in-game tactical adjustments. Reducing the size of Team Eswatini’s contingent—be it the football squad, the netball team or the athletics delegation—would be an act of self-sabotage. It would directly compromise the coach’s ability to compete and would send a message that the nation is unwilling to back its talent fully.
The purpose of this new policy is to enhance competitiveness by ensuring health and safety; compromising squad size would nullify this benefit. We cannot risk a young player’s development – or a crucial match result – by sacrificing an essential reserve or support staff member to save the price of a single plane ticket. The budget conversation must focus on finding the necessary funds, not cutting vital personnel.
The new policy correctly identifies that travel to countries outside of the neighbouring quartet (Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho) should be conducted by air. This immediately turns the focus to Eswatini Air. This is a moment for strategic partnership, not merely a transaction for airfare.
The ESRC and the national carrier must forge a comprehensive, long-term value-in-kind sponsorship agreement. Eswatini Air should be positioned as the official airline partner of Team Eswatini. This is a common and highly successful model across the region and globally, as evidenced by South African Airways’ historic and contemporary partnerships with national teams like Bafana Bafana and Airlink’s sponsorship of high-profile regional sporting events.
Instead of paying market-rate fares, the ESRC secures deeply discounted bulk-travel or charter rates. In return, Eswatini Air receives substantial marketing value.
Every time Team Eswatini travel, Eswatini Air is positioned as a proud supporter of national ambition. This provides direct exposure on official team gear, press conferences and social media platforms, bolstering the airline’s image as a pillar of national pride and connectivity.
A dedicated partnership allows the airline to plan block bookings well in advance, streamlining the logistics for the ESRC and ensuring reliable, direct routes where possible, further reducing transit fatigue.
This move must be framed as a national investment where the government, through its parastatals, supports the national vision. Eswatini Air gains positive association, and the athletes gain safe passage. It is a textbook example of leveraging state assets for mutual benefit.
The Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs. With this progressive new safety policy in place, the onus now shifts to the Ministry to ensure the ESRC is adequately funded to execute this mandate.
It is no secret that sport, culture and recreation often falls low on the budgetary priority list compared to sectors like education, agriculture or health. While the national sports budget may have seen modest increases in recent years, this new policy fundamentally changes the fiscal requirements for international exposure.
The ministry must champion the cause for a substantial, non-negotiable increase in the international travel budget allocated to the ESRC in the next financial year. This is not ‘extra’ spending; it is replacing a sub-standard, high-risk operational method with a professional, safe standard.
The ministry needs to argue that sports are a vital soft power tool, a unifier of the nation and an economic generator through the visibility it provides. The budget must reflect this strategic importance, ensuring that the ESRC has a reliable, predictable funding stream to implement the safety policy without constant crisis management or reliance on ad-hoc fundraising. A significant uplift in recurrent expenditure for international assignments is vital to turn this policy from a dream into a consistently delivered reality.
Government funding, even if increased, can never be the sole source for funding ambitious international sports programmes. The ESRC must aggressively pursue sophisticated resource mobilisation strategies to diversify its income streams.
Beyond the Eswatini Air partnership, the ESRC needs a dedicated team focused on securing long-term sponsorship from major domestic and regional corporations. Instead of asking for simple cash donations, the ESRC should offer structured, measurable value.
Create silver, gold and platinum sponsorship tiers with defined returns on investment (logo placement, event access, athlete endorsements).
Government should explore offering tax incentives to companies that sponsor national teams, making corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending in sports financially appealing.
The national team brand is an asset. The ESRC should establish a robust merchandising and licensing programme. Every national shirt, every scarf and every piece of fan gear should generate revenue that flows directly back into the travel fund. This is how the fans become direct financial partners in the team’s success.
While the ‘Visit Rwanda’ global sponsorship model is aspirational and highly successful, smaller nations can look to local examples of effective resource generation.
In South Africa, for instance, their national football and cricket bodies have mastered the art of commercial partnerships, securing long-term deals across various sectors (airlines, betting, beverage) to fund their operations and athlete development.
As resource mobilisation strategists often point out, funding is not just cash. The ESRC can tap into non-financial resources, such as leveraging skilled volunteers, securing secondments of professionals (physiotherapists, lawyers, accountants) from partnering corporations, or securing free use of training facilities. Every non-cash contribution reduces the burden on the financial budget, freeing up cash for essential flights.
The Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council’s new travel policy is a landmark moment. It elevates athlete safety and professional standards, aligning Eswatini sports with best practices globally.
It is now the collective responsibility of the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, the ESRC and the corporate sector to ensure this policy thrives. The national budget must reflect the reality of safe, competitive international travel, while the ESRC must become a hub of commercial innovation, securing the partnerships that will keep Team Eswatini flying high. This policy is not an expense; it is an investment in our talent, our pride and our future success on the global stage. We can afford to be safe, but we cannot afford to be left behind.
Some of the country’s sports leaders (L-R) Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council CEO Darius Dlomo, EOCGA President Adam ‘Bomber’ Mthethwa and National Olympic Committee CEO Maxwell Jele. (Pic: EOCGA)