/ 28 June 2000

SWAZILAND FIRE BANDA

SWAZILAND have fired coach Francis Banda just one week before facing Kenya in an African Nations Cup preliminary-round match here. Zambian Banda was axed after a 2-0 loss to South Africa in a Castle Cup Southern Africa championship match last weekend, the latest in a string of poor results for the kingdom this year. He had been in charge for 20 matches spanning three years and will be replaced by assistant Dumisa Mahlahela, who has just six days to find a winning formula. Meanwhile Swazi Home Affairs Minister Prince Sobandla Dlamini has apologised to a journalist he assaulted after the Castle Cup match in Witbank, a mining town east of Johannesburg. “I was caught up in the emotions of the occasions,” admitted the often volatile Dlamini, who attacked Times of Swaziland assistant sports editor Jerry Dube.