IS SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL TOO GOOD FOR SWAZI PLAYERS?

Sir,

The South African ABSA Premiership is one of the richest and competitive football leagues in Africa and this has been evidenced by the influx of foreign players plying their trade in that country.

Like the English Premiership, the ABSA Premiership has attracted many footballers in Africa and abroad including talented players from this tiny Kingdom of eSwatini where the standard of football is still at an amateur stage.
However, worth noting is the fact that despite the arduous challenges faced by local football there are those footballers who continue to catch the attention of South African teams with their footballing prowess.

And this has been the case even in yesteryears when the likes of Absalom ‘Scara’ Thindwa, Abel ‘Chacklas’ Shongwe, William ‘Cool Cat’ Shongwe and the dearly departed Tholeni ‘Schuster’ Nkambule took the South African football scene by storm in the colours of Soweto giants, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.

During their hey days they broke to the regular first team line-up and it is no wonder their names were inscribed in that country’s football hall of fame. Noteworthy is that the legendary ‘Cool Cat’, who was manning the poles at Chiefs, went on to serve in the team’s technical bench upon retirement and he contributed immensely.

These are some of the positives that deserve to be appreciated and surely the input shown by the Swazi legends in the neighbouring country never go unnoticed. 
However, in recent times local footballers seem to find the going tougher in South Africa as most of them fail to sustain their stay in that country despite having had a promising career. Except for Siza ‘King Pele’ Dlamini and Dennis ‘Yuki’ Masina who have spent almost 15 years in foreign lands, with the former now enjoying his role as assistant coach at Jomo Cosmos and the latter playing for Mpumalanga Black Aces.

Other Swazi players have struggled to showcase their talent in South Africa and guess what, most of them have since returned home.
Painful to note is the fact that, although some of them return home to play for elite league teams, there are those who disappear into oblivion, obviously quitting the sport before reaching the retirement age.

Who can dare forget the likes of Bongani ‘Ndezi’ Masangane, John ‘Shisa Junior’ Mdluli, Sibusiso ‘Spoko’ Dlamini to name only a few of the former Swazi soccer players who had promising careers in South Africa but somehow their stay didn’t last.
Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze, Wonder ‘Samba Jive’ Nhleko, Felix Badenhorst, Mfanafuthi ‘Taribo’ Bhembe, Sandile ‘Nkomishi’ Ginindza all make the list of former Swazi players who are now playing football in Swaziland.

 And now the mind-boggling questions are; what is it that we are not doing right that has seen our players failing to make the grade in South Africa? What is it that we have abandoned, that has seen local players struggling to follow the footsteps of the yesteryears Swazi nationals?
Could it be that the South African football is too good for Swazi players? Is the development of local football conducive enough to unearth players for professional leagues like the ABSA Premiership?

As a footballing nation which is thriving for greater heights even at national team level, there is a dire need to address such issues once and for all otherwise local players will continue to be a laughing stock in foreign land. With the proposed Sports Indaba still on the cards, we sincerely hope that such issues will be given the utmost attention in all aspects.

Comfort Jele, Hawane

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