MBABANE:Princess Lungile says Mbabane Swallows(Pty)Ltd forms part of her late husband Victor Gamedze’s eState as he was the sole Director but, the ownership of team will incorporate supporters through an elected Board of Directors.
Speaking to this Swaziland News in an exclusive interview on Sunday, the Princess said after the death of businessman Victor Gamedze, she was approached by Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze, the then captain of Mbabane Swallows and asked to take over, manage and fund the team.
The Mbabane Swallows Director said at that time, salaries for the players were amounting to over four hundred thousand Rands(R400,000.00) per-month.She further mentioned that, under the leadership of her husband Victor Gamedze, the team was doing well in the whole African continent and it was rapidly improving in international rankings.
“After the death of Gamedze in 2018, there was no one who was willing to run with the vision and the then captain Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze approached me saying “Make siyacela Nkhosi kutsi ungasilahli”. I was like; Tony you know I’m not a football person and I don’t know anything about football.The only thing that I know I just know marketing because I have a Degree in Marketing, that the only thing that I know, business and marketing. But I told Tony that I will take over the team and assist. Cha nangempela Hlubie ngayitsatsa after kushone Gamedze from January 2018 until 2019. When I took over the team Hlubie you cannot believe that, in the account there was only one thousand Rands(R1000.00). When it was time to pay salaries, Gamedze’s Personal Assistant(PA) told me that, there was only R1000.00 in the account. The team then had a bill of four hundred and fifty thousand Rands(R450,000.00) just for salaries”, she said.
The Princess further said, while she was managing the team after the death of Gamedze, Mbabane Swallows was doing well and, money was generated as the team won tournaments that included Ingwenyama Cup, MTN League and the Eswatini Telecoms Charity Cup and as a result, about R3.6million was generated.
“But apart from that,I was working hard generating money for the team by selling t-shirts, golf shirts, track-suits and through that, I managed to generate an extra R11million and the money was used to improve the welfare of the players. As you know the heart of a human being, while the team was doing well after the 2019 season, a group of individuals led by Absalom Ngwenya and Sandile Zwane approached me and demanded the team, saying it was stolen by Victor Gamedze, it’s not a company but an association not even a football club but an association”, said the wife to the late Mbabane Swallows Director.
When clarifying the registration of Mbabane Swallows as a company, Princess Lungile said, it was done by Gamedze as per the requirements of the Confederation of African Football(CAF) after Mbabane Swallows qualified to play at continental level.
“When they took the team from me, they had no money to run it but they approached Bishop Lukhele who later came back to me saying; “Nkhosi lentfo idulile” because then, to run Mbabane Swallows, you needed about eight hundred thousand Rands(R800,000.00) per-month. So Lukhele came back to me asking for assistance, he asked me to fund the costs of food while he funds the rest. I tried to assist him on the costs of food but, despite all my efforts,I was attacked for that. So the division started at Mbabane Swallows. Naye waMhlanti(Bishop Lukhele) kwakhanya kutsi lentfo ilukhuni, badlala ngaye, bayamnokha and it got to a point where he stepped down last year”, she said.
The Princess said, Bishop Bheki Lukhele then wrote a letter to her saying he was stepping down as managing the team was too expensive.
“Thereafter, a team of elders, supporters and legends approached me recently asking what is happening at Mbabane Swallows because seemingly, there is division and I explained to them that, bo-Sandile Zwane grabbed Mbabane Swallows saying it was stolen by Gamedze and I gave them the team. Kungunamuhla Hlubie kunema-problems ku-Mbabane Swallows and I don’t know what the future holds for the team as it’s been three(3) months with no salaries for the players. But the funny thing is; everybody is coming back to me now and I’m like; how can I take back something that you took from me deliberately and destroyed it. I would appreciate if you can get one(1) or two(2) players who were playing for Mbabane Swallows under Gamedze and who played under my administration like Tony Tsabedze and Felix Badenhorst so that, you can get information as to how was Mbabane Swallows under Make Gamedze’s leadership, they will tell you. I didn’t know football but I understood the business side of football and even today, I know that Mbabane Swallows can still do very well if you manage it properly, if you market it well. As you know Mbabane Swallows has a huge following, in 2018-2029, the team had between fifteen and twenty thousand(15000-20000) followers. So to make money through supporters, it was very easy and between July-August 2018, I managed to collect R11million through selling replicas, I could even sell branded water and caps, we were doing so well, kwase kufika Sathane-ke Nkhosi wafaka lunyawo lwakhe lweNgulube kwase kuyacala kuyahliphika”, said the Princess.
On another note, Princess Lungile said, the Premier League of Eswatini(PLE) will, after the Holidays, mediate and recommend an effort to resolve the crisis.
But the Princess clarified that, she was ready to take over the team again however, the previous Management had to settle the over R2million debt from the suppliers adding that,she handed over the team to them with no single debt.
Princess Lungile Mbabane Swallows Director.