30 May 2018

President Mokgwetsi Masisi is expected to officially open the Confederation of Universities and Colleges Sports Association (CUCSA) 2018 games, which will be hosted in Gaborone from June 18-22.

Addressing the media on May 29, CUCSA Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairperson, Thapelo Pabalinga said it will be the first time in the history of the games that a sitting head of state would open the games.

He said that alone showed true commitment from the government of Botswana and the President’s interest in youth development in Botswana especially when it came to issues of sport.

Pabalinga said their budget was projected at P5.5 million, adding that so far the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development had committed P3 million to the games, and he was hopeful that the corporate sector would help them with the shortfall.

“With the money pledged by government, we believe we should be moving from point A to B. Preparations are ongoing and we are at an advanced stage. We are doing the most we can with the little that we have,” he said.

Pabalinga said as the LOC they viewed the games as important given that as feeder games, they ended up helping the countries to come up with elite athletes.

He said so far nine countries being Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, eSwatini, South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho had confirmed their participation, and they were waiting to hear from Mozambique if they would also join in.

Talking about Team Botswana, the president of Botswana Tertiary Students Sports Association, Herbert Letsebe said the team was ready and raring to go.

He said they had selected the team during the Bracket Championships that were held in Selebi-Phikwe.

“This past weekend the team had its first camp where athletes were taken through their paces by their coaches. All the codes were represented except athletics which participated in Botswana Athletics Association Championships Lobatse,” he noted. ENDS