WE’LL DIE FOR PEANUTS – REFS

MBABANE – Local referees feel they risk their lives only to be paid peanuts.

These were the remarks of a local referee who wanted to comment on condition of anonymity after the incident that involved their colleague, Mbongeni Shongwe, who was almost beaten by angry Mbabane Highlanders supporters over the weekend for seemingly incorrectly awarding a winning goal to Manzini Sea Birds. According to the referee, it was decided by the referee’s committee after the incident that Shongwe should not be in charge of the match pitting Nsingizini Hotspurs against Tambuti, that was called off this past Wednesday at King Sobhuza II Memorial Stadium in Nhlangano.

He was believed to be still traumatised by the ugly scenes that transpired. A collective decision is said to have been made prior to Wednesday’s MTN Premier League matches,  by the referees committee that the top referee should be protected as he was not in a right state of mind to officiate a league game yet. Speaking on the matter which was discussed extensively in the local football fraternity and beyond, the referee said they were not protected and felt that the Premier League office did not show empathy on what befall their colleague. “It’s obvious that Mbongeni is traumatised; the Sea Birds player, Sandumuzi has also made things worse for him. He should have kept quiet,” the referee said.

Shocked

The anonymous middleman also said they were surprised and shocked that PLE released a memo to the media to apologise about the unfortunate incident but never at any point apologised to them. He said that what Mbongeni did was very brave. “He was very brave and he was able to save the other referees from the Highlanders supporters. There was also a female referee (Tencwala Soko) among them and imagine what would have happened had Mbongeni never ran. What he did saved other referees as the attention was directed to him and the others were able to be safe,’’ he said.
The referee highlighted that their work was not easy at all. “Our work is affected by decision that happen within a split of a second. The incident that happened over the weekend for example has made everyone to be experts because they have watched the video many times and even now some are still not sure if the player used his hand until the player himself commented on the incident. We take decisions instantly and it’s sad that some decisions will be wrong,” he lamented.

The referee further said people forget that they did this because of their love for the sport as they were getting peanuts. “We are given E350 each for a MTN Premier League match and E220 apiece for a National First Division game; we will die for nothing,” he said. Local referees are the lowest paid in the Southern African region as in neighbouring South Africa, each match official gets over E5 000 per match. Each referee in the country earns between E2 500 - E3 500 per month including travelling allowance depending on the number of games officiated in that month.

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