MANZINI – The nine schools that benefited from the Imbube Marathon were selected by the sponsors.

Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) spokesperson Mlungisi Dlamini said the schools were adopted by the companies for each of the water points during the three-pronged race that had the 42km, 21km and 10km.

On Friday, nine of the schools received basketball, netball, soccer and volleyball kits from their adopted companies.

“We wish to clarify the question that is circulating on how the benefiting schools were selected. It should be noted that it was the sole discretion of the companies to pick any school next to their water point and the schools sent pupils to serve water to the athletes when they pass by that particular water point,” Dlamini said.

He said the sports kits were just part of the benefit that those schools got from their adopted companies, and he said ENPF’s dream of promoting sports through the marathon was met.

“We understand that other companies could not meet this obligation because they were informed very late about it. However, we hope every school adopted will benefit this year as all sponsors will be aware of what to do,” he said.

He said the dates for this year’s event could be announced as early as April this year.

The handover ceremony marked the final item on the list of deliverables ahead of the next instalment later this year. ENPF are the marathon’s major sponsors with His Majesty King Mswati III the face of the event. The benefiting schools were chosen from those along the Marathon route, which started in Manzini via the Lobamba/ Ezulwini road to the capital, Mbabane.

During the event, ENPF General Manager (GM) Fund Micah Nkabinde, who represented CEO Prince Lonkhokhela, said they hoped that the kits would encourage the schools to continue to participate in sports, which is the Fund’s reason for getting involved in such an initiative.

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