MBABANE – “I wish them all the best and hope that they will represent the country very well.”
These were the words of back in the team, Mbabane Swallows President Archbishop Bheki Lukhele, when he bade the red and white outfit farewell, through team Governor Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane. This was ahead of the team’s departure to South Africa, Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natala yesterday, where Swallows will play in the Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup today. The Caleb Ngwenya-coached outfit is expected to play in the second match of the day against DStv Premiership side AmaZulu. Opening the day in the morning will be another DStv Premiership side Royal AM against Eswatini international Justice Figuareido’s Richards Bay. AmaZulu are the preseason tournament’s defending champions.
Lukhele saw the team off, which dispelled any fears that his resignation may have caused, as he is the financial muscle of the team. During his brief absence, Swallows made headlines for all the wrong reasons in local newspapers, including struggles with salary payments, the last issue being reports that they had to use their MTN Premier League third prize money to pay off the wages last month. Lukhele’s return, came to fruition sometime last week following several meetings between him and the elder’s led by their Chairman Absalom Ngwenya, who was at the helm during the over two months since May that Lukhele announced his resignation and that he was taking his two Sprinter buses with him.
Wish
“I want to wish the players well ahead of the Saturday games in Durban. The players must go and represent the country very well and they should know that they will have my prayers,” he said. The Swallows leader, who had said upon his resignation that he would always love and assist the team where he could, and opened room for talks for his possible return as he wanted certain issues addressed, also emphasised to the players the importance of the Prince Mangosuthu Cup to him. “The cup is important to me because it’s also about heritage and winning such a legacy cup automatically puts the club in the history books,” he added.
Swallows Governor Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane said they were grateful to Lukhele for the unconditional support he was giving them as a team.
“We are proud of our bishop who has shown great support to the club and taken care of the players’ welfare. We will go out in tomorrow’s (today) game to give our best to represent the Mbabane Swallows brand very well,” Zwane said. He went on to thank Lukhele for gifting the players with three new sets of kits to be used in the tournament. “The bishop also gave the team brand new kits for the tournament, which is something that will motivate the players,” Zwane said.
However, Zwane would not commit to whether Lukhele was officially back or not while no immediate comment could be obtained from Ngwenya but other top officials said it was yet to be cleared if Lukhele was officially back or not. Worth noting is that Swallows never left Lukhele’s premises despite the much-publicised resignation back in May when the MTN Premier League ended.
Training
The Umkhonto KaShaka continued to train in Ezulwini at his church premises as there is also a football pitch and also never stopped using the two Sprinter buses belonging to Lukhele in their preseason training and other business. During this time, it is believed talks were ongoing between Lukhele and the team elders, with our sources claiming the latter agreed to return and anticipates all will be well going forward. Coming back to the Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup, it is a preseason tournament in tribute to the apartheid struggle icon, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who is the former leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) since 2017. The now defunct Bloemfontein Celtic were the first to win it before Mamelodi Sundowns won it in 2018. Itonly returned to action last year whereby AmaZulu won it.