Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) CEO Dorothy Tlagae-Gaseitsiwe has expressed that the budget speech that was presented by Vice President Ndaba Gaolathe on Monday, did not specifically speak to sports in detail, safe to talk about the sports academy and acknowledge Letsile Tebogo’ success.
However, Tlagae-Gaseitsiwe noted that given that the Minister of Finance talked about National Funds of Funds, one can assume that sports organisations can use the Funds to accelerate sport development in Botswana. She noted that sports organisations require funding to build development programs in order to harness the pool of talent that is available in Botswana.
Tlagae-Gaseitsiwe highlighted that sports federations are currently being managed by volunteers, adding that they need funding for them to hire fulltime staff such as coaches and umpires among others. She indicated that this is something that government can look into to create employment at a time when unemployment levels are skyrocketing.
Tlagae-Gaseitsiwe has emphasised the fact that sport has potential to create employment, to unite a nation while at the same time marketing the country’s prospects to the outside world. She mentioned that Botswana is well known because of what her sport persons are achieving in the Continent and the World.
“We are awaiting the details when our time comes but we are sure that the support and willingness is there as we prepare ourselves for LA28 in USA. The national Federations will need support from now until we go to the Olympic Games. Our minister Jacob Kelebeng has shown commitment towards sport and we are looking forward to his support and guidance,’’ she said.
Meanwhile, during his presentation Gaolathe stated that they are developing a robust technical and vocational education and training policy with an agenda anchored on various pursuits such as agriculture, jewellery, multimedia, artificial intelligence, sports and manufacturing.
