STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER
DR B.S.S.DLAMINI
MEETING THE SWAZILAND TEAM FOR THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES
AT THE CABINET OFFICES
THURSDAY 17 JULY 2014
Honourable Minister
Swaziland Officials for the Commonwealth Games
Athletes
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a great pleasure to meet you all this morning as you prepare to travel north to Glasgow in the United Kingdom to represent Swaziland in the Commonwealth Games of 2014.
I used the words “Glasgow in the United Kingdom” but, depending on the outcome of the referendum next month on independence for Scotland, this might be the last time you describe your visit in that manner.
Each of you carries with you a great national honour and responsibility and I am sure you are all very excited to have this opportunity. Swaziland has competed in the Commonwealth Games since 1970 and, whilst we cannot count ourselves among the dominant competing countries, we are proud to have won medals in the marathon and in boxing, and we must strive to replicate such excellence as we participate.
And when I say “responsibility” it is not a question of “if you don’t win a medal, don’t come back.” Your responsibility is to do your very best at the Games and, throughout, both in and out of the sporting arena, to display an exemplary degree of commitment, courtesy and sportsmanship. Remember that there cannot be a winner of an event without there being other competitors in it. Our participation in the Games will be valued not least for that reason.
The Games will also be a general, as well as a sporting, showcase for our country. Every one of you, including the officials, is an informal ambassador for your country. Make your own individual and collective contributions towards projecting a very positive image of our Nation.
You have gone through the intensive training phase in your camps and other group sessions. We are represented in athletics, boxing, judo, swimming and cycling which gives us, back here watching from Swaziland, plenty of opportunity to spot our representatives in action.
These global sporting competitions have developed into massive media and commercial events. We ask you all, especially our officials, to learn as much as you can, while at the Games, about the spirit and the strategies that motivate and empower the smaller countries to excel competitively.
It remains for me, on behalf of the Swazi Nation, to wish you all “good luck” in your respective events.
Thank you.