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‘MYEKELENI APHUMULE’

30/01/2018 02:06:00 BY Lwazi's Pandora's Box

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My dearest readers ...
I wanna be there when the people turn it around, when they triumph over poverty, I wanna be there when the people win the battle against AIDS
I wanna lend a hand, I wanna be there for the alcoholic,
I wanna be there for the drug addict, I wanna be there for the victims of violence and abuse, I wanna lend a hand,
Send me, Thuma mina ...

This is an extract from the opening verse of dearly departed Jazz legend, Bra Hugh Masekela’s song, ‘Send me’, and I am borrowing the wise words of the South African musician, who passed on last Tuesday at the age of 78 years, to illustrate how touching the scenes we witnessed at the end of Mbabane Swallows’ titanic league clash with Royal Leopard were on Sunday at Somhlolo National Stadium.

This grandson of Mlonyeni is saying this Tuesday morning in this State-Of-The-Nation-Sports-Address (SONSA), ‘send me’ to pass on the message of gratitude to the thousands of Mbabane Swallows joyful fans who paid homage to their dearly departed club boss, Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze in the most moving and heart-warming fashion ever witnessed in local football since Titanic sank.

As the honey-throated Swallows belted into the famous hymn, ‘Myekeleni Aphumule’, I glanced just behind me where the amiable Premier League of Swaziland (PLS) and Mbabane Swallows chairman used to sit, with a mobile phone in hand, clad in his trademark white or England’s Arsenal cap, I shed a tear.

It was unbelievable he was not there. As I gazed to the synthetic track where Swallows players led by General Manager, Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane danced like nobody was watching, the fans on the grandstand ululating and singing their lungs out, it was a sight to behold. It was surreal. It was heart-warming. It melted the coldest of hearts. It was eerie parallel of that memorable Saturday afternoon of April 15, 2017 when the eccentric jersey number 11, Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze (his shibobo on Leopard midfielder Mxolisi Dlamini on Sunday left me giggling like a child in a candy shop), scored the winner in referee’s optional time to send Congo Brazzaville’s AC Leopard packing out of the CAF Confederation Cup on 4-2 aggregate score.

The celebrations too, were as palpable as that Saturday afternoon when Swallows wrote CAF’s most romantic storyline in what was dubbed as one of the ‘greatest comebacks in African football history’ by CAF website. “AC Leopard gone in 67 minutes,” wrote Yours Truly in the Times Sunday of April 16!
On Sunday, watching from the pearly gates of heaven, the late club boss, Gamedze must have belted a Colgate smile in sheer amazement. He must have shed tears of joy too in appreciation for another remarkable comeback by the club that ran through his blood veins, courtesy of two goals by much-maligned striker Sandile Hlatshwako, a man many love to hate yet his conversation ratio is among the best in the MTN League year in and year out.

Sunday’s remarkable comeback was more profound, given the traumatic week that had enveloped the whole country since the brutal assassination of the shrewd businessman and club boss. Before the game there were fears that the emotions of a traumatic week might overwhelm Swallows players who were visibly gutted at the funeral service when they paid their last respects to a figure head they loved, cherished and respected. He became like father to many of them because he dealt with them at a very personal level. In the travels during the African safari with the ‘Birds’, I noticed how he easily bonded with the players. In the words of Kaizer Chiefs Manager, Bobby Motaung, a smart dresser himself, Gamedze was a snazzy dresser, who would be right at the centre-field at training in his suit, barking instructions and cajoling his troops ahead of big games. He was a uniting force for a club and country that few characters in sport, politics or business could emulate.

That’s why Sunday’s sweeter-than-a-nectarine 2-1 victory over Royal Leopard – the sixth in a row in all competitions over the police side – mirrored his beliefs, kept his spirit alive and was testimony of the winning mentality he infused in his troops. I am not being overly dramatic to say he was probably watching as his team trailed to a Barry Steenkamp well headed goal. He probably would have screamed murder when coach, Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati pulled out the best player on the pitch, Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze at a time when Swallows had just equalised and were making inroads at the police side’s danger zone with panache, obduracy, commitment and zeal, which now comes like second nature to these ‘Invincibles’ of local football. “Phela Koki bese uba-excited mkhulu,” he would often say to me after games and for the mere fact that the multiple-award winning gaffer (Vilakati) is a good friend of mine, I would tell him and we would laugh our lungs out.

You see, great events shape the lives of institutions and those who are part of them. The Chinese are still affected by the Tiananmen Square massacre; the Scots are still affected by the Culloden, Liverpool by the Hillsborough, Bradford City by the fire, Soweto giants, Pirates and Chiefs by the Ellis Park disaster. These great and terrible events become part of the way people see the world. We are, to a certain extent, defined by the terrible events we survive or go through. That is true of the private events that involve us.
That’s why Swallows win over Leopard, the amazing way it happened, touched the cockles of the heart of everyone who is a true football supporter. It did not only send the Swallows faithful into frenzy but touched the heart-strings of even their haters and detractors.

Spirit. Passion. Will. Longing. Sometimes raw emotions is enough, after all. Leopard did all they could – even hitting the post after Swallows had equalised but the red and white glamour side had something more. Something indefinable. Something that cannot be taught in coaching manuals or captured in replays or revealed by reams of statistical analysis.

Something that always lifts them beyond. Something that propels them towards the realms of the fantastic. They were beaten – trailing with 30 minutes remaining. It did look like the 40-game-unbeaten-league-run was about to come to a juddering halt. And then they were not beaten. Somehow they returned from the beyond. Call it the spirit of Somhlolo. Call it whatever you may, for nothing quite compares. This wasn’t about beating Leopard again or reclaiming the top position. This was about Mbabane Swallows Football Club and its late chairman, Victor Gamedze; it was about the Swallows of Pius ‘Mkhari’ Dube, of Gift ‘Cracker’ Masina, of Differ ‘Different Strokes’ Maphanga, of Ronnie ‘Valiant’ Dube, of Sizwe Shabangu. The Swallows of Sibusiso Manana, of Collin Ntiwane, of Luke Qwabe, of Sam Carmichael, of Pat Greenhead, of Nqaba Dlamini to mention but a few of the fallen soldiers of this great side.
It was about ‘Umkhonto Ka-Shaka’, a great side celebrating 70 years this year, that never know when a cause is lost.

By sheer determination, they scored the winner deep in referee, Thembinkhosi Dlamini’s three minutes optional time. Quite how, who knows? Divine intervention, perhaps. An unexpected lapse in concentration at Leopard defence in dealing with a Sizolwethu ‘Nunu’ Tshabalala inviting cross which Sandile Hlatshwako headed in, sending the Swallows faithful on the terraces into endless bouts of sheer unbridled joy.

It was truly moving, truly powerful and that mood continued way after the final whistle next to the club dressing room. The fans didn’t give up on their team and they wouldn’t give up on this amazing team either, especially after the sad demise of the club chairman. It was the longest rendition of ‘Myekeleni Aphumule’ that many have ever heard since Gamedze was buried by over 10 000 fans at KaLanga in Siteki the previous Sunday morning. In his deathbed, he must have belted his trademark wall-to-wall smile. Are you watching you killers of a great man? Of course you are not but you have heard. You have been left in wonder and yes, disbelief. Now you know, GOOD WILL ALWAYS TRIUMPH OVER EVIL!