IT’S A DAWN OF A NEW ERA!

My dearest readers ...

My green flies on the Sigwaca House wall once told me a moving story of how Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane did the unthinkable when he was assigned on one of the lucrative international trips as an executive committee member, where you pose as ‘head of delegation’ and get to carry a substantial amount of money for ‘contingency’ purposes on top of your travelling allowance. Over the years, such enviable tasks would often be handed to the executive committee members who would then do the right thing when election time came around (if you know what I mean). Simelane bucked the trend when after being a head of delegation for Mbabane Swallows in one of the Africa sojourns, he returned the full contingency money back to the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) coffers.

accountability

While this was a classic case of accountability, it rubbed some of the rubble-rousers who thrive on these international trips to score a quick buck, the wrong way. That act of transparency, accountability and integrity must have planted the seed which overtime grew into a blossoming flower which we all came to appreciate when Simelane was elected in a landslide 33-15 victory as the new EFA president on Sunday at Happy Valley Hotel.
It was a watershed moment. It’s the dawn of a new era. While many election analysts often say, nominations on their own tell a story of who has been the highest bidder, Simelane’s five nominations for the election seemed to have foretold the story of him having done a lot of groundwork ahead of D-day. His landslide victory of 33-15 over Mashumi Shongwe should be put into perspective.

First let’s get one Dr Comfort Shongwe out of the equation. Going into the election having received one nomination meant the acting president was skating on thin ice and the death knell was sounded. But nobody would have thought he would not even get one vote even from the Hhohho FA that nominated him. It was an absolute shocker but that’s football politics for you! I will address this one later. For now, let’s stick to the amazing story of one Peter Simelane, who has replaced the longest serving EFA president since EFA was formed in 1968 in Adam Brightwell Mveli Mthethwa.

grip

A combined 24-year in charge, Mthethwa had an iron grip on local football that he literally became everything good and bad about the sport. When he was elected president of the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA) on March 7 and officially stepping down as EFA president on April 4, it was the end of an era. The battlelines were drawn. 

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