TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION NEEDED

My dearest readers ...

In the captivating movie, Jerusalem, the main actor, Lucky Kunene, skilfully played by Rapulana Seiphemo, makes a poignant remark from the onset.

“The beginning, Soweto 1994, Freedom ... the new South Africa, the new dawn, new day ... the new beginning.”

After the dramatic Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) elections last Saturday at Happy Valley Hotel, the scene-setting words of the starring Lucky Kunene, in one of my favourite movies of all time, Jerusalem, came flooding back. Denver Sundowns Director Mark Carmichael beat Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula in a closely-contested chairmanship race by 15-11 to assume the head honcho position of an organisation that seriously needs rebuilding, reshaping and realigning in all aspects.

Saturday’s election was a culmination of five months of intense lobbying, smear-campaigns, mudslinging, accusations, counter-accusations, lies and deceit that would make any elective African National Congress (ANC) look like a Sunday school picnic. 

It was as dirty as a coal miner’s underwear in January!

It has been hard, even for some of us, to tell fact from fiction; friends from foes; lies from the truth; wishful thinking from reality. When people, especially football administrators have diverse interests on issues, they can sell an ice to an Eskimo; fire in hell and an egg to a hen as long as they get to lay their hands on the levers of power.

Now the war, so to speak, is over. To be honest, it is an end of an error. This is a new beginning; a new dawn. Carmichael and his new committee members are obviously as excited as cocks in the henhouse. But they need no reminder of the tough task that lies ahead.

acknowledge

Before even the first step is taken, we have to acknowledge that there are serious issues that need to be thrashed out. The first and the most prominent is the issue of the PLE expenditure. The red flags raised during the annual general meeting (AGM) in the financial statements which Board of Governor member Sibusiso ‘Scorpion’ Nxumalo asked for a special day to deliberate the concerns is most crucial. I want to throw my two cents worth given the serious allegations of mismanagement of funds that have cropped up – justified or not. This meeting should be turned into a TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION (TRC), so to speak. The outgoing executive committee including the chairman, Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula, need to explain each and every transaction so that everything starts on a clean slate. It may not be court-like in the sense of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in 1996 by the new SA Government national unity where witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements about their experiences and perpetrators of violence also gave testimonies and requested amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution. But like the TRC, it will help ‘heal our past’. I am certain that the Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula-led executive committee would like to be afforded an opportunity to explain itself on the allegations of mismanagement of funds. 

They must be given that opportunity because we cannot pretend to be oblivious to the fact that two of the members of the new executive committee, Carmichael himself and Rudolf Matsenjwa, were part of the outgoing committee. 

Fair

It is only fair to hear their side of the story instead of making wild accusations about funds being mishandled or whatever. Such a forum will also help the new committee realise the need to put financial policies in place so that there is accountability and transparency.

This is not the time to start pointing fingers or seeking revenge or even making false accusations without any tangible proof. If there is any proof, then those found to be on the wrong need to come clean. This will help heal our football going forward. The new committee headed by Carmichael has to set clear goals and objectives. While we all have a nostalgic feeling about the Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze era, it is time to move forward. It is time to turn a new leaf.

We cannot find another Gamedze in our midst; a man with the business acumen, political connections and aura to turn our lemons into lemonade. We have to make peace with the fact that we don’t have that kind of leader right now. But we can help Carmichael and his committee to steady the ship; redirect it and get it back on track.

This will require the committee to work on the constitution which is the sport’s number one enemy. It is retrogressive and riddled with ambiguity. 

The new committee will need to hire a proper chief executive officer (CEO) with a proven track record because in the Board of Governors structure, he is the most important person as he seats in the driving seat. 

The PLE needs an independent CEO - not a lapdog of the executive committee, who will not only have a vision for the organisation, but be able to put in place a workable organisational structure that will dovetail with the situation of our football in this country.

buy-in

Then of course, they seriously need to get a buy-in from the sponsors while they search for new sponsors as well. 

With the irreparably damaged caused by the coronavirus, they need to convince the existing sponsors, MTN Eswatini, EswatiniBank, Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC) and Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (SMVAF) why it still makes business sense to associate with football even during this COVID-19 pandemic era. This is an era where digital marketing is no longer an option but a MUST and it needs the leadership to think outside the box.

So while it is good to celebrate the election of a new committee, let us not be oblivious to the fact that tough times lie ahead and that indeed, it won’t be an easy stroll in the park. After all the hugs and kisses of Saturday’s victory, reality has to sink in that this is no bed of roses. I have faith that Carmichael and his band of merry men realise all this and are ready to deliver. Welcome to Hell, gentlemen ... and good luck! Needless to say, you will need dollops of it!

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