LET’S KEEP GAMEDZE’S SOCCER DEVELOPMENT LEGACY ALIVE!

My dearest readers ... Forty eight hours after the body of slain soccer boss and shrewd businessman, Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze was swallowed reluctantly by the fertile KaLanga soil and the angels in heaven rejoiced in accepting his soul, the Swazi football flag is still flying at half-mast.

The wheels of justice might be rolling right now as police try their best to crack the case, leaving us perplexed with shocking revelations. Social media might be abuzz with truths, rumours and half-truths from those with fertile imaginations but the sad reality is that Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze is no more. He has assumed the Managing Director position at the Heavenly Swallows XI, joining the likes of Sibusiso Manana, Nqaba Dlamini, Greenhead, Collin Ntiwane, Luke Qwabe, Bheki Simelane, Ngwazi Shongwe, Sam Carmichael to mention but a few.

He is at a better place now. He is away from all the hatred, two-faced back-stabbers pretending to be his friends and it is time to let his soul repose peacefully. As the honey-throated Mbabane Swallows fans sung and danced at the funeral in Siteki, KaLanga on Sunday, belting the hymn, ‘Myekeleni Aphumule’, I couldn’t agree more.

Yes, it is time to let him rest peacefully. Yes, I strongly believe justice will be served and it will be served because this is no petty crime and case. It is a crime against humanity. It has the same destabilising and disastrous effects as terrorism.

It is callous, senseless and unpardonable. We can only ask God to help heal our wounds for this country to restore its tag as the ‘Pulpit of Africa’, re-establish its image as a peaceful nation, not a gangster’s paradise which it is quickly snowballing into.

That’s why this Tuesday morning, I want to ask – plead, to be precise – with the National Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS) as custodians of our beautiful game (which increasingly is becoming not just a dirty game but a dangerous one) to roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty to ensure that one of the key components of the game which was closest to the dearly departed Gamedze is kept alive. I am not alone in this call. 

A friend of mine, Celani Shongwe, in a moving tribute to Gamedze published in the Swazi News on Saturday, calls on the FA to name the KaLanga Technical Centre after Gamedze as an honour for his immense contribution to football. I couldn’t agree more!
Nothing will pay homage to the gentle giant, the son of the soul, than something of that nature especially at his parental home where it all began for him.

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