GAUTENG MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi remains positive that his beloved Moroka Swallows will dodge the axe to the lower SAB Regional League this weekend.
The Birds’ Gauteng ABC Motsepe League campaign will come to an end on Saturday should they lose or draw with title-chasing Orange Vaal Professionals at the Qedilizwe Stadium in their last league match of the season (3pm).
Swallows are 15th in the table with 24 points from 29 matches.
They have three points more than Mofolo BET Stars, who are languishing at the bottom of the table with 21 points.
But victory for Swallows against the tough-as-teak Orange Vaal Professionals will see them leap to 13th place, with survival then dependent on results from other matches.
Lesufi will meet with the Swallows players today to offer them monetary incentives to win Saturday’s final match as the club endeavours to survive the drop.
The MEC said he was relieved that Swallows had honoured all their league matches “considering the club has no management, no proper technical team, no money, no offices and no stadium”.
Lesufi said he was forced to cash in his life and investment policies to help finance the Dube Birds after the club’s bank accounts were frozen and garnished.
“Swallows’ problems are immeasurable,” he said yesterday, adding that he regards Saturday’s match as an historic game for the club.
“We are financing the club out of our own pockets. I am using money that belongs to my family and my salary to finance the club. Now we are about to be relegated again.”
He said, however, they would not throw in the towel as there was a sliver of a chance that they might survive.
“The incentives are part of my efforts to motivate the players – we will make them survive,” Lesufi added. “I will ask for loans if I have to and use all the money in my bank balance. I have exhausted all my credit card funds.
“We will die like soldiers, if it should happen.”
He has thanked current coach Fani Madida, “who is working without a consistent salary but keeps pushing”, and Jomo Cosmos boss Jomo Sono, who offered them eight players in January.
How far the mighty have fallen.
Once arguably the most famous football club in SA, Swallows have fallen on hard times of late and are now in danger of becoming extinct, following in the footsteps of clubs like African Wanderers and Bush Bucks.
Their opponents, Orange Vaal Pros are only a point behind Maccabi FC, who top the Motsepe League table with 59 points and are on the verge of playing in the NFD promotional play-offs.
The Birds were relegated from the Premier Soccer League to the National First Division in the 2014-15 season, where they also slid down the table to join the third tier ABC Motsepe League at the end of last season.
Swallows’ troubles began in the PSL when minority shareholders opposed former CEO Leon Prins, before being kicked out of Dobsonville Stadium where they had offices.
They also had financial trouble, allegedly owing the taxman and players millions, and things got worse when sponsors pulled the plug.
Meanwhile, Ga-Rankuwa United and Dondol Stars’ rescheduled ABC Motsepe League match will be played at Giant Stadium in Soshanguve tomorrow at 3pm after it had to be postponed on Saturday due to match officials arriving late.
Relegation-bound Mofolo BT Stars and Leruma United are also set to appear before the Safa DC on Thursday on different charges.
