BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE- In a bid to empower and educate the youth, Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Moses Vilakati parted ways with E50 000 over the weekend.
This was during a tournament for Ntondozi Inkhundla that was held over the weekend where the youth was involved in soccer matches with various teams and won different prizes.
The games were played in the presence of Eswatini Premier League soccer icons like Mfanzile ‘Fash’ and Madida among others. The tournaments being played were ranging from 15 going upwards.
When explaining this initiative Vilakati said he was inspired by the youth and the passion he has for them. The minister mentioned that he wanted to encourage the festive spirit and nature working hard in the youth.
“Often times we find young children on the streets engaging in drugs and other illicit activities. What we were hoping for is to show them a good time while educating them.” He said.
In addition to that, he said roping in the soccer icons in the country was set to inspire the young ones and maybe ignite them to aspire to something bigger.
When speaking about the amount invested in the tournament, Vilakati said there were different prizes and some of the money was used to put together the whole event, which was attended by over 300 constituents.
“The prize money was E35 000 and then we moved it to a cash prize of E40 000 and the rest of it was for the small prizes like T-shirts, trophies and the rest,” he said.
A number of community members expressed their gratitude to the minister for putting together the show, a parent Simo Simelane whose child was playing said he was happy.
“This is a very good activity, it helps our children stay focused and off the streets we also needed this good day as a community,” he said.
Another community member said Vilakati helped ignite the original sentiments towards a festive season and further helped the youth.
“The country has been gloomy it is good to know that we can still smile and have good days. There is a lot of negativity going around but the Minister ensured us a day of worry free,” said the excited community member.
