Mbabane: As His Majesty King Mswati III prepared to officially open the second session of the eleventh parliament on January 31, sports took a keen on its budget in the weeks that followed.
As official parliament got underway, government ministries got allocations, some by an unreasonable bucketful while some will got the least. The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs found itself having to work on a shoe string budget despite its importance to society, education and the economy among other things.
Sport is an important part of today’s society and plays a large role in many people’s lives. Now more than ever, sport events dominate headlines and athletes have become national heroes. It goes without saying that sport should be constantly present in the lives of those who cherish it. From a social standpoint, it goes without saying that sport plays a positive role in uniting people from different social backgrounds in support of their favorite team for example. This can aid people’s understanding and tolerance of each other.
As far as education is concerned, sport is an important part of every child’s schooling, as it plays a big role in both their physical and mental development. It teaches children how to work as a part of a team and cooperate with others, while at the same time improving physical condition. The only drawback to this is that children who are less able to perform well in sport are likely to feel inadequate in comparison to their more gifted classmates, which may affect their self-confidence.
From an economic point of view, sport can be very profitable, as it attracts a lot of sponsorship and advertising. On the one hand this creates revenue for the sporting industry which allows for improvement and expansion.
Now, the biggest the Eswatini National Sports and Recreation Council has got from the budget to be tabled by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg in the coming weeks was 13 million SZL in 2016 and it has dwindled to just 7 million SZL last year.
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