Times Of Swaziland: TIME TO DRAW THE LINE IN THE SAND

TIME TO DRAW THE LINE IN THE SAND
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BY Lwazi's Pandora's Boxs on 07/09/2020 23:48:00


My dearest Board of Governors memberS…….Writing open letters is one of my
sentimental hates but it gives me singular pleasure to pen this love letter to
you this Tuesday morning.
This weekend, to be precise on Saturday, at Happy Valley Hotel, at 11am, you
have an opportunity to be part of a gathering that could shape the future of
Eswatini premier league football for the better or worse. You hold the vote, all
26 of you, that could determine whether the gains we have accrued over the years
disappear like morning dew at the face of the sun. You have the power that will
determine whether the sacrifice, the money, the determination and the building
block laid by the path-finders of the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) many
moons ago, were not in vain. When I talk about the path-finders who laid the
foundation, I am talking about the great sons of the soil, in Seedwell Lukhele,
Dick Eyeighton, Desmond Oswin, Moses ‘Mkhulu’ Motsa, Victor ‘Maradona’
Gamedze, Sidumo Mdladla, Khisimusi Ndlovu, Veli Dlamini, Celani Shongwe, Martin
‘Internash’ Dlamini, Masotja Vilakati, Musa Masuku, Charles ‘Ace’ Jele,
Henry ‘Tum’ Du Pont, Henry ‘Shushu’ Mthethwa, Zakhele ‘TZD’ Dlamini,
Dumsani Gumede, Sandile ‘Chief’ Dlamini, to mention but a few.
Sacrificed
These great men sacrificed not just their time and money but they planted a seed
which gave a tree that provided shade and comfort which even led to the league
rated the top 14th in Africa. But this lovely tree is wilting away. This tree,
which was supposed to grow into a forest, is being chopped daily by
maladministration, greed and numerous other destructive tendencies.
Destructive fictional smear campaigns aimed at dislodging other members in the
organisation has left not just the football fraternity gobsmacked but the
captains of industry worried sick about their investment in the people’s game.
Instead of the three-year contracts which were signed amid pomp and glamour,
some of the sponsors are now content in signing one-year renewable contracts to
safe-guard their brand image interests.
Something has to give in. We need to draw the line in the sand. We must
relocate, redefine and reset the football button so that the sponsors and the
followers of the game can have confidence in the leadership of the PLE AGAIN.
We cannot forever be looking with nostalgia on the good work the late chairman,
Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze, did. Gamedze ran his mile and he ran the
organisation his own way and nobody can replicate how he did it.
Let him rest in peace. Myekeleni aphumule. Someone must take the organisation
forward now.
Articulate
Writing in the South African, Sunday Times over the weekend, African National
Congress (ANC) Deputy President David Mabuza was articulate in reiterating the
calls by the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, that the “organisation needs to draw
the line in the sand against corruption, practice of recalling leaders without
having conducted any assessment of their contribution towards the implementation
of the popular mandate, but merely for the advancement of factional motives.”
Dear Board of Governor, you have the power to do the same on Saturday when you
cast that vote. This is not a popularity contest. We need decisive leadership.
We need someone who can bring order and direction. We need someone with a vision
who can unite the organisation, re-build its image and restore it to its
original glory.
We have three musketeers within the PLE Executive Committee in current chairman
Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula, Mark Carmichael and Sicelo Mkhonta, who are vying
for the chairmanship position of the organisation.
All three men have their strengths and weaknesses. All three have been there and
worked under Gamedze’s stewardship. But all three have to be captain of their
own ship.
All three are capable. But for me, it is the Executive Committee and the Chief
Executive Officer, in the current structure, who is more important than the
Chairman. By design or default, this is supposed to be the case with this Board
of Governors structure which was a cut and paste from the more efficient one of
our neighbours, the Premier Soccer League (PSL). The difference here is that the
Board of Governors, most of them, are not owners of the teams yet in South
Africa, the Board of Governors are owners of teams.
Therein lies the rub.
This has brought a lot of challenges into the administration of the organisation
as a result of this glaring mishap.
That’s why it is very important that under the circumstances, the Executive
Committee is made up of clued up individuals who can drive the mandate handed to
them by the Board of Governors with the assistance of a CEO and the chairman
overseeing it.
So dear board member, it is not just a Chairman who is important in this
structure but it is the Executive Committee and most importantly, it is the CEO.
Promised
Dear Board of Governor, if the PLE is to grow as an organisation it needs a CEO
who has the know-how, experience and skills to drive it to the Promised Land. It
needs an Executive Committee with members who have the skill to cover issues of
marketing, legal and administrative so that it is stable. It needs a chairman
who can oversee all these as a figurehead of the organisation.
Unfortunately this grandson of Mlonyeni does not cast a vote, you hold that
power.
Please do the right thing – vote for someone who can bring change and
direction to the organisation; someone who can take it forward.
Whether it is ‘better the devil you know than the angel you don’t know’ or
whether ‘a new broom will sweep cleaner or the old broom is better because it
knows the nooks and corners of the house’?
The voting power is with you. Please do the right thing. We are not asking for
too much, are we?
Very interesting times indeed…..