It is with great pride and a great sense of duty that we are here before you today, to welcome Team Botswana from the just ended 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana.
“Akwaaba” Team Botswana, “Akwaaba”!
I must admit, I had wanted to be around for your send-off ceremony to the Games, for Ghana is amongst the African countries I hold very dear.
This is not only because they are amongst Africa’s foremost democracies, but also because a lot of teachers and scholars from Ghana helped shape our education system, which is now amongst the very best in the continent.
Of course, who can ever forget that to a large extent, we owe our qualification to the 2012 AFCON to none other than Ghanaian Ben Koffi!
Dear Team Botswana
It is against that backdrop that while we sent you off with the timeless ‘tsaya thobane o ba bolaye’ song, I was not upset when you did not hit them hard enough to bring a gold medal from the Games, especially against our Ghanaian Teams. They are our big brother and we needed to show some Respek (*** slowly punch forward***)
On a more serious note Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Iet me commend all of the Africa Union, ANOCA, UCSA and the Government and people of the Republic of Ghana for successfully staging the 13th African Games, and in the process, providing African athletes with a platform to showcase their talents and/or further hornet their skills for the all-important Paris Olympic Games later in the year.
Director of Ceremonies
I wish to pause at this juncture to highly commend each and every member of Team Botswana for having taken these games very seriously, for it sure reflected in Team Botswana’s performance. *****A round of applause for all of you****.
While we have recorded a sizeable number of medals, personal bests and/or other achievements, allow me to proudly single out a few notable highlights from the games; first of which would be the record five (5) second knockout win by Taekwondo athlete Zoe Kula against her South African counterpart. “Mme mma hampore o bolaya ngawana yo mongwe!”
Next is none other than the beach volleyball team, boy-oh-boy, you guys did make us proud!
Because I am not sure Rre Mophuting knows, only having joined MYSC over a year ago, the achievement by Beach Volleyball Team was historic, wa nkutwa DPS Mophuting, HISTORIC!
Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together for the first team sport from Botswana to ever win a medal from the African Games since our initial participation in 1991!
Congratulations President Tsoseletso Magang. This achievement was not a fluke. Rather, is the fruit of your collaboration with and deliberate support from the Botswana Government through the BNSC by way of:
- Placing both George and Jack in the Zebra Athlete Fund for three (3) consecutive years, including the current year, to assist them hone their skills for the international stage;
- assisting your Federation to construct a beach volleyball court where the team, and many others are currently training; and
- supporting the team financially to honor their Zone Six series fixtures; concluding those in position one.
Ladies and Gentlemen, if this is not intentional and purposeful support and funding, then I do know what such is. Well done once again Jack and George, the BVF and BNSC and BNOC.
Director of Ceremonies
Hot on the heels of Beach Volleyball was another ‘newbie’ to the African Games, Basketball 3×3!
President Bo Hardy, were you wearing shades in the middle of the night at one of the Games?
Well, in case you were, I wouldn’t blame you. I would have done the same! Yaone, Motheo, Karabo and Dingane, you guys were absolutely amazing!
I watched some of the live streaming as well as some post-match highlights of your games, and in basketball and youth lingo, all I can say is ‘you guys got mad skills’. Theo and One, having been part of the Team, you are right up there in the mix.
Coach Rahube, that 4th place finish was no fluke by any means. In fact, in my assessment, you deserved to have reached the finals at the very least.
It is for that reason that I wish to direct the BNSC and BNOC CEOs and the BBA President that in whatever they will do going forward, they , should keep this Team together and prioritise basketball 3×3 on the whole.
I have a conviction that Botswana can have representation in basketball at the Olympic Games as early as 2028, through the 3×3 discipline.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
It will of course be remiss of me not to highlight the achievements by our standard torchbearer, Athletics. Not only did they, as per tradition now, bring the greatest number of medals, their 4x400m mixed relay was cheeky enough to break the National Record twice in a space of two days; talk of enviable arrogance!
Well done President Bantsi. Your mixed relay Team’s 2nd place finish on the final night of the Games placed Botswana as the current ‘12th ranked mixed relay Team in the World; a position that should qualify them for the World Relays slated for the Bahamas later this year.
By the way, our very own President His Excellency Dr. Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi recently hosted the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, who was accompanied by my counterpart.
So I challenge you President Bantsi, the BNOC and the BNSC to maintain or even better that 12th position such that our participation in the Bahamas is not only guaranteed, but also that you will “do the things” in Nassau.
Mr. President, I do hope you’ve brought some valuable lessons from Ghana that should see our athletics growing from strength to strength in the next few years. On the part of Government, I can tell you this early on that as the best performing sport in Botswana, for the 2024/2025 financial year, we are going to invest quite heavily in capacitating your administration, coaching and indeed club structures.
Dear Karate Team, you were a late entrant into the Team, and you, just like athletics, did not disappoint. Well done President Bakwadi, your coaches and athletes.
To other Teams that I have not mentioned by names, you were equally amazing in your own right. It’s just that the Director of Ceremonies is giving me that weird look.
As I move to my conclusion Ladies and Gentlemen, let me remind all of us here that while the Accra Games were a serious and important competition in their own right, we also used them as part of our preparations forthe Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
To the naysayers, medals were never our primary objective, for if they were, we would have taken Letsile to the Games, fielded the likes of the hitherto defending African Games Champion Leungo Scotch and Olympic Games finalist Bayapo Ndori in the men’s 400m event. Rather,
Rather, we focused on preparing our Team for Paris, hence the bias towards Olympics sport in the Team makeup, which objective I am proud to say we have achieved.
The BNSC will announce in the next few days, the unprecedented funding we are making available for Paris Olympic Games preparations as well as kickstarting those for Los Angeles 2028.
While talking about Paris, let me seize this opportunity to congratulate one Ketlhobogile Hanguira who recently joined the bandwagon in qualifying for Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the men’s 800m.
He too, just like those who have already qualified, is immediately entitled to the monthly P8,300.00 stipend by the Government until August this year. “Kana mme la re Goromente ga a thokomele di athletes tsa Batswana. How many other Governments in the entire African continent have such incentives?
Ijoo, I almost forgot Schoolboy! Ka Sengwaketse motho yo tshwanang le Letsile o bitswang? Congratulations on qualifying for your 3rd discipline at the Paris Olympic Games, o ikgatha ka ba bangwe Rraetso, must re go neele metse yotlhe between Gaborone le Kanye, Mogoditshane a le mo teng?
Director of Ceremonies, let me not take my seat without having thanked the team officials who accompanied our athletes to these games. We appreciate so much your patriotism by sacrificing your family time to ensure that our athletes receive the best professional assistance to perform at their best. Please pass our greatest gratitude to your families.
I bank on you to ensure that within the shortest possible space of time, each athlete and official entitled to appearance fees, and where applicable performance incentives, such are received within the shortest possible space of time.
I wish to conclude by thanking all the corporate partners who continue to support Government by investing in Botswana sport in general. The achievements we are realizing are by no means not Government’s alone, but yours too, and for that we are grateful.
On behalf of the Government of Botswana, the leadership of sport in Botswana, all our invaluable stakeholders and indeed on my own behalf, let me express our greatest delight, honour and privilege in welcoming Team Botswana back home following a memorable performance at the 13th African Games.
Remarks by the Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare on the occasion of a welcome ceremony for team Botswana from the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana.