13 Nov 2017

Botswana has assumed the chairmanship of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 council of ministers.

The African Union Sports Council Region 5 council of ministers comprises of all sports ministers from the SADC country members of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

In his remarks as the incoming chairperson of the Region 5 council of ministers, Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Thapelo Olopeng, assured the SADC region that Botswana would do the best it could in the next two years as the region 5 chair by contributing to sport development and promotion in the region.

He said Botswana appreciated the decorated milestone that the region had achieved under the leadership of its predecessor being Angola, and it was more humbling that the milestones were achieved during a time of dark cloud of economic challenges.

Olopeng pleaded for support from the entire region in order for the council to be better positioned to collectively guide the sporting fraternity to greater heights to be at par with the transforming global sporting world.

“Botswana is taking up leadership at a time when the region is in the formative stage of commercialising its aspirations. I assure the region’s sport ministers that Botswana will endeavor to support this drive so that the region contributes towards transformation of the organization,” he said.

Olopeng therefore called for improved communication and better service delivery towards the betterment of athletes’ performances at regional, continental and world stages.

 “As Council, I implore you to support our structures that are cardinal to our decision making as their guidance is critical and a guarantee to prudence and efficiency of our processes and systems,” said Olopeng.
He highlighted that energies must be expended more towards issues that transformed both the welfare and performance environment of athletes adding that the council’s progress will be measured by the successes that the region achieved at various stages of competitions.

Olopeng stated that the just ended Region 5 ordinary meeting resolved to unlock the true value of sport as a business and to ensure that sport thrived as a viable industry that contributed directly towards harnessing the demographic dividends through investment in youth.

He said Region 5 was committed to harness the true global power of sport in nation building and to invest in its sustainable contribution towards excellence of athletes and officials as diplomatic ambassadors of their respective countries at major regional, continental and international platforms.

He further noted that the region was also committed to upholding principles of solidarity and brotherhood among member countries to perpetuate fraternal diplomatic relations and collectively promote respect, peace and tranquility among member countries and broader African community. BOPA