Taking a look at Brazilian protesters....

In 2010, against all odds, South Africa brought the world the biggest football party they had ever seen (and we even gave them a rather loud souvenir too).  The Rainbow Nation was united for a month, football was the winner, and streams of tourism income was due to flow in the coming months and years to provide long-lasting prosperity for South Africans.  Or at least that's what we were told.

 

After all the hype had died down, South Africans realized that they got the crappy end of the stick.  For example, in Cape Town, R4 million rand was spent on building a stadium yet just three years later, poor South Africans who live around the stadium are still without basic sanitation and decent living conditions.  Just three years on from the World Cup, Cape Town saw angry individuals throwing faecal matter in public places to "demonstrate" this lack of access to a basic toilet.  Even those who wore the rose-tinted glasses and drank from the fountain of optimism of 2010 have now woken up to smell the poo coffee. The fact of the matter is that public funds that were desperately needed by the masses were instead spent on a hosting a very expensive soccer party; a party that promised much more to the nation than it delivered. 

 

For years, public funds have not been enough , it seems, to provide a large number of poor communities with access to decent sporting facilities. Yet, somehow, Mzansi decided to build expensive stadiums such as the Nelson Mandela stadium, Mbombela Stadium, Cape Town stadium and the Peter Mokaba stadium at great cost and these stadiums are fast becoming white elephants.  Furthermore, the Polokwane Municipality apparently pays Kaizer Chiefs around R1 million rand (per game) to play matches at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, which means even more money is coming from the public purse. There's also no need to discuss how the investment into Concert City Soccer City is going.

 

Cue the Brazilian people of 2013.  Facing similar problems that South Africans are currently facing (corruption, failing public services, large income disparities and an unresponsive government), these people did not even wait for the main event (World Cup) to start voicing their opinion. Already, only a few days into the 2013 Confederations Cup, the voice of the protestors has gotten so loud that it is getting the attention of the attention-grabber extraordinaire himself, Neymar, who recently stated that he would "enter the field inspired by this movement".

 

In case you have been living in a hole, in the past few days, more than a million people have marched against the government in major cities around Brazil. They have been protesting, waving Brazilian flags, dancing and chanting slogans such as “Pardon the inconvenience, Brazil is changing".
 

Protests were sparked this week initially by a rise in bus and subway fairs. Protesters are now also fighting for an improvement to the currently inadequate and overcrowded public transportation networks, better health and education, and for corruption to be tackled. 

 

With the football world's attention on Brazil, the people have grasped the perfect opportunity to to make their voices heard.  The protestors are accusing the government of spending billions building recreational stadiums and ignoring priorities such as as health and education.

 

For those who didn't know, hosting the FIFA World Cup is set to cost Brazil about $15 million (significantly higher than the reported $7 billion it cost South Africa in 2010).  Some reports claim that FIFA walked away from the 2010 World Cup with $3.2 billion, while the Local Organizing Committee only earned about $70-100 million. Furthermore, the tournament only added 0.4% to South Africa's gross domestic product.
 

I digress.  In 2013, the Brazilians have used football - or football's ability to draw the world's attention to a nation - to make their voices heard.  As a certain journalist pointed out, "mega sports events create a coterie of crooked politicos, corporate interests, and professional organizers indifferent to the realities outside the stadiums," and in spite of Brazilians' immense love for the game, the Brazilian people are making sure that the world is aware of the realities outside their beautiful stadiums.

 

Bill Shankly once famously said: "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."  Personally, I believe that football has been put on this pedestal and its importance has been greatly exaggerated by many.  But now, the Brazilian people are managing to put social issues back into focus.  I hope that this does not eventually come at the cost of a life. 

 

I also hope that the actions of Brazilian protestors can lead to some sort of long-lasting positive effect on their lives and while also opening up people's minds to the greater costs and disadvantages of hosting a mega-events such as the World Cup, because in the end, football is just a game.  It is a great game: a great game that provides a form of enjoyable escapism.  Governments and citizens alike should never forget that public money may be better used helping the poor escape poverty and helping those who cannot read to escape illiteracy (among other things) rather than channeling scarce resources to once-off events like the World Cup.

 

Good luck, Brazil!

Thomas  Monyepao

You can find me on twitter as @Tom_18Yards

It's time for the Birds to aim higher

Sibusiso Khumalo. Signed up by Sundowns. Gone. Bennet Chenene. Pre-contract signed. Going. David Mathebula. Pre-contract signed. Going. Katlego “Mahoota” Mashego. PSL top top goalscorer. Sundowns are negotiation. Will probably also walk out the door.

Moroka Swallows finished in 9^th place this season and will potentially lose about 3 key players. Three!

Transfers this past season included Lizo Mjempu, a leftback, who came in for free, Larry Cohen who came in for free after being released by Chippa United (allegedly for a tweet) and even Mahoota, who also came in for free. Noticing a trend?

These new players were added to other free transfers such as Roger Da Costa who came in from a US college league, Rudi Isaacs, Larry Cohen, Aubrey Mathibe, McBeth Sibaya and Dikgang Mabalane to name a few.

One of Swallows' transfer targets, transfer-listed Kagiso Senamela, although very skilful is someone who is currently not wanted by Amazulu, a club that finished in 12^th position.

Swallows has a big weakness at leftback and in the goalkeeping department. Aubrey Mathibe, a decent backup (compared to the current number 1) has just been released. One can only hope a better replacement is coming in - hope being the key word. At leftback, with Shere “Skhotane” Legkethoane as our main leftback, that position has been the weakest link this season. It can almost be described as the “bridge for opposing teams into our net”, as one tweep recently stated. With a glaring weakness in the position, who did Swallows decide to get as backup? Free-agent, Lizo Mjempu of course! That hasn't quite worked out.

Swallows' infamous leaking defence has conceded an equal number of goals as soon-to-be-relegated Chippa United – the joint second highest number in the PSL.

In the striking department there are problems too. Nomvethe is not getting any younger. An early-season injury to “Bhele” could have put Zeca Marques in a very difficult position had Mashego not stepped up to the plate to taken on the goalscoring responsibilities - with that defence, a top-of-the-charts goalscoring season was needed from somebody! The very same Mashego seems to be heading for Chloorkop. The only other out-and-out striker available is the average (really average) Mpho Maleka. So, some serious reinforcement is urgently needed up front.

In midfield, during the course of the 2012/13 season, I would often tweet about how a decent backup for Bennett Chenene was needed. Playing the relatively one-footed Felix Obada on the left has never worked. David Mathebula (although not as out-and-out winger) would also sometimes fill in and now, ironically, both Chenene and Mathebula are heading to Supersport United. The team has no recognised left winger, never mind having a backup player.

In the central postions, the golden oldies at the heart of midfield Macbeth Sibaya, Lefa Tsutsulupa and Giorgi Nergadze will have a combined age of 103 - yes, 103 years - at the end of the 2013/14 system. As previously stated, Sundowns have already taken away the much younger Sibusiso Khumalo. On the wing you can find players such as Dikgang Mabalane and Joseph Makhanya with a combined age of 66 at the end of next season.

With all these departures (departure of creative personnel, I must add), it looks like Lerato Chabangu may need to do it all by himself next season.

The point of this piece is that a team which claims to have the ambition of becoming a competitive team, needs to sign the quality players it wants and not only the players that nobody else seems to need.

This lack of investment has been a big contributing factor to Swallows dropping out of the top half of the table. In the new season Swallows fans may even be closer to kissing the league goodbye than kissing a trophy, and, well, unlike Kelly Rowland, I do not like my kisses down low. 

 

Ajax Cape Town is a good example of the rapid decline that is possible when a club (or the people in charge) continuously fail to provide good investment while letting go of key players: Ajax found themselves in a scary relegation battle this season. They were title contenders just three seasons ago. 

Da Costa recently tweeted his frustration at the recent depature of key players such as David Mathebula

 

One thing is confirmed; Swallows will not be “reclaiming the glory” of the MTN8 cup due to the final league position of the 2012/13 season. But it is now time to start retaining key personnel and also stop this approach of reclaiming the club-less, free agent. It is time to aim high...like a Bird.

Thomas Monyepao

You can find me on twitter @Tom_18Yards