Eswatini eyes Africa Games medals Mbabane giants’ proposals rejected
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MBABANE – The 13 athletes who will be leaving the country en route to Ghana for the African Games have been urged to fight for a podium finish.
A team of these athletes, five coaches and two officials will be leaving the country as of today in groups for the continental showpiece, scheduled to run from March 8 to 23 in Accra. The squad was officially sent off by the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Bongani Nzima.
The farewell event was held at the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA) conference room yesterday morning. During his maiden team departure speech, Nzima challenged the athletes to adopt the government’s ‘nkwe’ approach and surpass their 2019 performance.
During the showdown staged in Morocco, Eswatini came short of the podium finish stage. “We urge you to exhibit a ‘nkwe’ attitude in everything you do in Ghana. It is
such an approach that will allow you to leave your opponents in your wake and bring medals back home,” Nzima said.
Eswatini will be represented in athletics, taekwondo, swimming, boxing and karate. The travelling costs had an estimated budget of E1.7 million, with joint funding from the Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council (ESRC) and the EOCGA. “While we didn’t achieve any podium finish in the last African Games in Morocco back in 2019, it is my belief that we are putting out a strong team that will make history and put Eswatini on the map this year,” Nzima said.
He urged the athletes from the five sporting codes to be united and support each other on and off the field. The minister trusted that senior runners Sibusiso ‘Swazi Bolt’ Matsenjwa and Bongiwe Mahlalela would have a key role to play. “I urge the seniors among you, Sibusiso and Bongiwe, to take a lead in ensuring that there is unity throughout this team. We are not sending out individuals here today, but a team one team, representing the whole of Eswatini,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, EOCGA President Adam ‘Bomber’ Mthethwa had his confidence in the team to carry out the mandate given.
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“The MC met with the two clubs to hear their proposals. The MC informed the clubs that it was given permission to play the semi-finals on Sunday, March 10, 2024 at Somhlolo,” Makhanya said.
The CEO further said an official fixture will be released next week. With the current fixture, the fans will watch the security forces derby first. In what looks to be a rematch of the competition’s last 16 rounds of 32 of the 2019/20 season, the crowd pullers filled the ‘Soccer Mecca’ to the brim. They have also proven their mass fan base with their MTN Premier League derbies, where they filled up the Mavuso Sports Centre.
They will clash in this dream semi-final, with Swallows chasing their fourth title after winning it three consecutive times. Meanwhile, Highlanders are chasing their first title after being in the finals for a couple of times. On the other hand, Buffaloes and Green Mamba are chasing their second glory after winning in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
The sixth edition of the tournament, which fuses soccer and culture, carries a E1.4 million champion prize. It also carries the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederations Cup ticket. Meanwhile, teams in the culture competitions, which will be held this weekend in the Hhohho and Lubombo regions, carry prizes up to E75 000.
Meanwhile, Umkhonto KaShaka Public Relations Officer (PRO) was quoted saying that they had no challenges on co-hosting with the forces teams as this was a tournament for His Majesty King Mswati III, but was quick to highlight that in local football history, the Mbabane Derby had never been played with other games. “We want to give the spectators a good Ingwenyama Cup derby as Mbabane teams alone. It won’t work as a lot of things will not go well,” Ngwenya said on national radio Sports Show hosted by Siphesihle ‘Sihlabani’ Nxumalo yesterday.
On the other hand no immediate comment could be sourced from Highlanders as PRO Kenneth Dlamini’s phone was not on the MTN network.