09 Jul 2019

Lack of physical activity has been labelled one of the most serious public health concerns of the 21st century.

Speaking at the awards ceremony for the annual Debswana Inter-mine games, which are part of the company’s build up to its 50th anniversary at Jwaneng on July 7, Jwaneng Mine general manager, Mr Koolatotse Koolatotse indicated that staying active through sports involvement had a large contribution towards longevity and healthier lives.

“The more we get up, run and stretch the less likely we may be to develop obesity, diabetes, depression or cardiovascular diseases. This is why Debswana wellness has launched programmes such as thuba to promote health through sporting activities,” he said.

Mr Koolatotse also indicated that apart from promoting healthy living, sport also contributed immensely to the education sector as research indicated that absenteeism declined and employee engagement improved when it was made part of the workplace.

That, he said was one of the reasons Debswana invested millions of pula in sporting activities such as the Debswana First Division league and Re ba Bona ha, a grassroots sport programme.

“These initiatives are about uplifting livelihoods through skills and talent,” he said.

Mr Koolatotse also indicated that as a company, they also derived value in sport to promote cohesion and improve management which helped the company to accomplish targeted business goals. He therefore applauded the organising committee, area leadership and the community for ensuring that the games became a success.

Mr Koolatotse also said as a mine, they were determined to change the status quo and empower women as they believed they were an equally capable gender, adding that such can be launched through sport. Meanwhile, various speakers at the event such as the organisers and representatives of the Botswana Mine Workers Union also applauded the Debswana leadership for affording employees time off their busy schedules to partake in sporting activities.

They said that was because the games have been held successively for years with full support of management, and thus urged all participating teams to always ensure that the games improved in competitiveness annually.

At the games, Orapa emerged victors after they amassed the most trophies, winning women’s darts, pool, netball, both men and women’s table tennis, long tennis and weightlifting. Jwaneng came second. ENDS