30/12/2025
While the kingdom’s football fans have grown weary of the perennial stadium crisis that has forced the national team, Sihlangu Semnikati, to play home games in South Africa, a more quiet and devastating tragedy is unfolding beneath the feet of eSwatini’s athletes. An investigation by Inhlase can reveal systemic failures in project management, oversight, and procurement integrity at the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs and the Microprojects Unit. At the heart of the scandal is the E6.4 million synthetic athletic track at Somhlolo National Stadium—a facility that was meant to usher in a new era for local sprinters but has instead become a symbol of wasted taxpayer funds and shattered sporting ambitions. Since its installation in 2021, the track has not only failed to meet international standards. Still, it has physically disintegrated, leaving the nation’s elite athletes to train on dangerous roadsides or pay exorbitant fees for the only other viable facility in the country.
By INHLASE REPORTER While the kingdom’s football fans have grown weary of the perennial stadium crisis that has forced the national team, Sihlangu Semnikati, to play home games in South Africa, a more quiet and devastating tragedy is unfolding beneath the feet of eSwatini’s athletes. An investig...
