MAMA, GIVE US THE BIG DERBY SIGNAL!

My dearest readers ... One of the most remarkable things of the traumatic 2018 was certainly Economic Freedom Fighter’s Commander-in-Chief, Julius Malema, that Buccaneer-for-life, fiery speech at the funeral of the late struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on Saturday, April 14.

“Mama those who sold you out to the regime are here. They are crying the loudest more than all of us who cared for you‚” the rubble-rouser, whom I had a sagacious conversation with recently in a trendy Johannesburg eatery, bellowed.

After the magical Ingwenyama Cup final reached its semi-final stage over the weekend, I feel it is also opportune to also ask Mama for a signal.
“Mama, this tournament is the richest in the land. It needs a big game and one as big as the Mbabane derby. The derby is slowly losing its lustre as the Swallows of Mbabane have beaten the Highlanders till they are pitch black with seven consecutive wins in all competitions. Mama, it is time to settle the score in the richest tournament of all.”

possibility

Yes, dear reader, there is a possibility, a huge one at that, that we could have the biggest game in the land – Highlanders versus Swallows - either in the semis and good gracious me, a Cup final. These two bitter rivals last met in a major Cup final when George W. Bush was still looking under Saddam Hussein’s bed for the weapons of mass destruction.

A big derby cup final is as common as Pope Francis’s visits to the local mosque!
Yes, they did face off last year on August 5 in the Eswatini Telecom Charity Cup final, with the ‘Birds’ edging their bitter rivals 2-1, courtesy of a late two-goal-hero Sandile Hlatshwako, winner after midfield maestro Vusumuzi Zungu had thrown the game into extra-time with a 86th minute equaliser to cancel Hlatshwako’s first half strike. But the Eswatini Telecom Charity Cup, if truth be told, is not just a season opener, but a cobby-webby, uninspiring business where sometimes the passing is wonky and many of the touches more worthy of a buffalo than a footballer. To its credit, it is just a gentle entry into the hurly-burly of the new season.

The last time these traditional rivals of local football met in a major cup final was in 1994, in the then BP Cup where Highlanders emerged 5-4 winners on penalties in a replayed fixture. There have been some thrilling semi-finals and quarter-final clashes over the years. Who can forget the September 4, 2000 Trade Fair Cup semi-final clash when a first half brace by Petros ‘Brooks’ Tembe and another second half strike by the dearly departed Tholeni ‘Schuster’ Nkambule, set the ‘Black Bull’ on the road to finals with another late striker, Sipho ‘Mtseki’ Terblanche pulling one back for Swallows to give some credibility to the scoreline.

Highlanders won the replayed fixture 3-1 after the original fixture was abandoned following crowd trouble.
Remember how the shortest player on the field, Highlanders midfielder, Nana ‘Take Me Home’ Dlamini, snatched the winner in referee Mbongiseni Fakudze’s optional time, for a 2-1 victory when he rose like a humming bird to head home in a tension-filled SwaziBank Cup quarter final clash on March 3, 2009 ?

The two great sides, one founded in 1948 in the Swallows of Mbabane and the other founded in 1952 in SCOT, have given us fond memories we will take to our graves. In a city united by football but divided by loyalties – it’s either you wear red or black.

respect

With all due respect to the other semi-finalists in Malanti Chiefs and Young Buffaloes, they will always play second fiddle to the big Mbabane derby. This is a fixture that divides families, friends and lovers. Granted Mbabane Swallows has so dominated the fixture, having gone seven matches now without defeat in all competitions, it has become as predictable as night following day but the mere fact that the two sides have not met in a major cup final in 24 years, would make any possible meeting now special on all fronts.

The four-year-old richly-sponsored Ingwenyama Cup deserves a big Cup final for crying out loud, especially with a lucrative E1.3 million at stake. But football being the unpredictable game it is, the semi-final draw could just give us shocking fixtures or even worse, the results could possibly see a Malanti Chiefs vs Young Buffaloes finale.

It has happened before in the magical SwaziBank Cup. Who can forget the  2005 final pitting already relegated Hub Sundowns against Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati’s promoted Malanti Chiefs ? History books will reflect it was Mlamuli ‘Sputla’ Zwane, who rode to the podium to lift the glittering trophy with club owner Malume Du-Pont belting a wall-to-wall smile in tow.

Anything in this game of the billions is possible. That’s why I say, in Juju’s voice, ‘Mama, please give us a derby final signal!
We are yearning for it……It would be a Cup final LIKE NO OTHER !  
Give us a derby signal Mama ...

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