Editor
The whole of greater Estcourt and outer lying areas were disappointed during the festive season and Good Friday weekend as the prestigious Ziyaphenduka KO Competition was not staged. As a former player and a staunch fan of this yearly event, it was not just a blow to the Estcourt people but to everybody who loves soccer of this magnitude – it was a killer punch to the development of the game.

The tournament Ziyaphenduka started about eight years ago in 2007. When the initial tournament was won by Zwelisha FC who played the invincible Tornado FC from Johannesburg who they beat 3-1 to lift the prestigious cup with R50 000 first prize and R45 000 second prize – went to Tornado.The money at stake was a whopping R175 000, excluding incentives such as leading goal scorer, goal keeper of the tournament, best goal scorer and best team, which carried a sum of R100 000.

The tournament grew in such a way that teams and clubs as far as Johannesburg, Empangeni, Durban and Emanmatholo graced it. It became a household event and became a must-watch family event. It also produced a lot of teams and players who ended up in professional ranks with various giants – players like Mncwango of Baroka FC, BMX Mkhize of Bucs and Chiefs. The list is endless.

Come on guys; let us revive this tournament as it brings unity in this tiny town of Estcourt. What a lovely stadium we have but it’s not fully utilised. Are there no clubs in Estcourt and surrounds? It’s stupid and nonsensical that local soccer politics, a lack of passion, positions, power struggles and simply short-sighted individuals played a big role in this fiasco – our soccer was controlled by people who lacked love for soccer but were power-hungry.

It is the duty of our leaders to see to it that our children are kept off the street and away from drug abuse. The local structures of SAFA are there to take the game to the next level, not to destroy community projects, especially when it comes to developing the game at grassroots level.

The local SAFA structures should treat this matter with the urgency it deserves because it’s going to destroy local soccer and badly divide us. The Sports and Recreation Department ad stakeholders such as the founders of Ziyaphenduka and players need to hold a major soccer indaba to resolve this thorny issue.The Estcourt people are angry and have been overlooked by taking away their annual community event.
Angry Estcourtonian