‘WESLIANS’ FANS THREATEN RED LIONS PRO COMFORT

MBABANE – Red Lions might have been overjoyed after beating cross-town rivals Manzini Wanderers on Sunday but the club’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Comfort Shongwe has not enjoyed the triumph.

The frisky PRO who has made a name for himself with his light-hearted comments on national radio during the live Sports Show, had to hide from Manzini Wanderers fans soon after his team had broken the hearts of the ‘Weslians’ faithful with a 2-1 defeat on Sunday.
This is the main reason he has put forth, among others, that prompted him to apologise for comments he made on national radio last Friday during the SBIS Sports Show, where he said something that did not sit well with the Wanderers followers.

He related that after the match played at Somhlolo National Stadium he was forced to stay in a car for some time so as not to fall on the hands of the ‘Weslians’ supporters because he had overheard some of them talking about how they wanted to discipline him for his utterances.

 “This thing began on Friday when I boarded a public transport vehicle to Manzini where upon reaching the bus rank, I overheard some of the bus conductors saying they wanted to teach me a lesson after the comments I had made earlier on radio, while other people informed me that the same was also being mentioned in other circles. I took it lightly at first since I had made them in passing, until I got to the stadium where I again overheard others talking about how they wanted to beat me up.

“I did not react at first because they obviously did not know how I looked since I was close to them at the time, but after the game I noticed that I had been identified and I decided to quickly seek cover. I ended up in a car to be safe. I was scared for my life even though I had already sent a message to the Wanderers PRO (Mduduzi ‘Mr. G’ Ginindza) asking him to apologise on my behalf.

This is the main reason I also decided to issue a public apology to the supporters and the whole team on radio because I did not think they would take it so seriously. I was joking with my friend (Ginindza) only to offend so many people,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shongwe’s comments associated the team with the Mnjoli Dam, a place where, recently, a bottled Wanderers team-list was found in debris of concrete that had been dug out by construction workers at a site they were working on, a matter that got the followers hot under the collar.
This was linked with muti beliefs as the team had not been doing well at the start of the season. In his own words, Shongwe said, at the time: “It is by luck that God has blessed us with rain that so many rivers and dams have plenty of water. We are, therefore, going to beat Manzini Wanderers on Sunday. I will take them for burial in one of these places, either at Luphohlo Dam, or Maguga Dam, or Mnjoli Dam, but we will ensure that wherever we place them, they do not resurface again.”

This is the statement that he has withdrawn and apologised profusely for, seeking forgiveness. Ginindza confirmed that this had infuriated the supporters, as well as having received Shongwe’s apology in the form of a message sent to his mobile phone, but refuted claims that the team’s fans had threatened his colleague with violence.

“They just voiced out that they were unhappy with PROs of other teams ridiculing their team. They stated clearly that they would rather have these PROs talk about their own teams and not include the Manzini Wanderers name, especially when their own team’s PRO did not do such. They did not talk about violence against him,” Ginindza said.

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