Times Of Swaziland: SIX VYING FOR PLE CHAIRMANSHIP SIX VYING FOR PLE CHAIRMANSHIP ================================================================================ Sabelo Ndzinisa on 25/03/2020 08:51:00 MBABANE – The race for the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) chairmanship will be very interesting after it emerged yesterday that six candidates had been identified for nomination by a majority of the Board of Governors. The elections for a new executive committee of the organisation are expected to take place during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) whose date is yet to be confirmed, though it is normally between July and August. Nominations are usually done a month before the AGM, as stipulated in the PLE constitution. However, this has not stopped Governors from drawing up a list of their preferred candidates for the chairmanship and reliable information sourced by this publication revealed that current chairman Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula is among those that will be nominated by the Governors alongside the likes of executive members Sicelo Mkhonta and Mark Carmichael. Include Others believed to be part of the list include Mhlume Peacemakers’ boss Sibusiso ‘Scorpion’ Nxumalo, who is believed to be the leading candidate for the position, Mashumi Shongwe and former Mbabane Highlanders’ board of directors’ chairman Zweli Jele. “From our discussions as Governors, Scorpion Nxumalo is the preferred candidate for the chairmanship but others are vouching for ‘Touch’ to remain in power while others feel either Carmichael or Mashumi should be given the chance as they are experienced football administrators. It is going to be a very close race for the chairman position after the nominations are announced. The challenge with Scorpion, Mashumi and Jele is that their nomination will depend on whether or not the amended PLE constitution is adopted before the elections because as it is, only ‘Touch’, Mkhonta and Carmichael qualify to contest for the position by virtue of having served in the executive committee for four years. The amended constitution allows non-executive members like the other three (Scorpion, Mashumi and Jele) to be nominated for the elections but the constitution has to be adopted first before it comes into effect during the AGM,” a Board of Governors’ member confided yesterday. It has been gathered that a draft of the constitution is already in place and waiting to be endorsed by the PLE membership. A task force was appointed during the last PLE retreat to effect the constitutional changes and information gathered was that they had finished their assignment. PLE Chief Operations Officer (COO) Pat Vilakati said the nomination process would only start after the date of the AGM has been decided.