MBABANE – A war for the soul and identity of capital city giants Mbabane Swallows has officially moved to the courtroom.
Mbabane Swallows Football Club (Pty) Ltd has filed an urgent High Court application seeking a sweeping, permanent interdict to ban a rival faction from using the iconic name ‘Mbabane Swallows’ or any of its variations in local football operations, business and official communications.
The application is set to be heard before the High Court of Eswatini today.
The applicant, Mbabane Swallows Football Club (Pty) Ltd, has brought the multi-faceted legal challenge against the FC faction’s Acting President Absalom Ngwenya (first respondent), Stanley Sandile Zwane (second respondent) and Welile Mabuza (third respondent).
Crucially, the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) and the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) have been cited as the fourth and fifth respondents, respectively, seeking to restrain the football bodies from recognising the opposing faction.
In his founding affidavit, the applicant’s Director, Wonder Mabandla Nhleko, lays bare the bitter governance divide that has plagued the ‘Birds’. Nhleko, who is noticeably Mbabane Swallows legend, who spent the past football season playing for relegated hub giants Manzini Wanderers, maintains that the Pty Ltd entity holds exclusive, protected legal rights to the team’s identity.
According to the filed deposition, the applicant asserts that the first respondent, Absalom Ngwenya, claims authority to use the protected name following the passing of the late football administrator Victor Gamedze. The papers describe the second respondent, Zwane, as Ngwenya’s ‘right-hand man’, who shares the same ideology despite not being a member of the Board of Directors of the applicant company.
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Members of the DRC-based Team JMR delegation, who visited the country to discuss a potential partnership and investment deal with Mbabane Swallows FC. (Pics: Nimrod Hlophe)