Safpu should stop talking, start doing!

Mazola Molefe says the South African Football Players Union (Safpu) is nothing more than a voiceless establishment. Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Mazola Molefe says the South African Football Players Union (Safpu) is nothing more than a voiceless establishment. Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Published Nov 21, 2015

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Once in a blue moon, the South African Football Players Union (Safpu) celebrate a small victory. But in truth, this organisation is a voiceless establishment. They are preceded by their below-par record, which makes an absolute mockery of the entire thing.

Safpu made yet another lousy attempt to be relevant this week by calling a press conference to discuss the state of our football.

I wasn’t invited (the invitations were sent via Twitter and I probably missed mine), but Safpu made sure their concerns would be heard on ANN7 and selected radio stations when Simba Marumo and Co slammed the recent R65-million bonus pie shared by Premier Soccer League executives and said nay to Tokyo Sexwale running for the Fifa presidency next year.

Safpu have been making a bit of a racket lately having also weighed in on the Senzo Meyiwa, Cecil Lolo and Richard Henyekane insurance payout following the tragic death of the three footballers.

The problem with this association, apparently founded in 1997 and associated with Cosatu, is that they often preach to the choir. In the midst of controversy and exploitation of those whose rights the organisation are supposedly fighting for, Safpu seldom manage to confront key stakeholders to address these issues.

Instead of sticking their nose in global football matters like giving their two cents worth on why Sexwale is an unfit candidate for the Fifa hot seat, president Marumo and his entourage should be telling us why Roggert Nyundu is still poor. They should be calling a press conference to reveal a break-through agreement between Safpu and the PSL regarding a minimum wage for footballers across all divisions under the National Soccer League umbrella. They should be popping champagne bottles in a celebratory mood after announcing that the PSL conceded to revising their insurance policy, which currently pays half of its dividends to clubs and the other half to the family of the deceased.

Safpu have their work cut out, and have no business trying to win the war when tiny battles within the football corridors are still crying out for their attention.

Nyundu’s story sent shockwaves in football circles when the striker told the Sowetan in June he was earning a meagre R5000 a month at PSL club Polokwane City, who had loaned him out to National First Division side Black Leopards six months earlier. “They (City) did not respect me as a player and I don’t want to go there on July 1. I used to live at the clubhouse (in Soetdoring), on the outskirts of Polokwane, and it’s like a camp for the Under-12s,” he said in the interview.

This was Nyundu’s desperate plea to be lifted out of poverty, and his plight was duly noted and many like him came to the fore. Safpu made promises, demanding to see the player’s contract from the PSL in an effort to help. It seemed like an open-and-shut case given the evidence. But five months down the line, Nyundu, a married father of two girls, is back in Thohoyandou and suddenly a forgotten man.

As it turned out, Bidvest Wits, who had given him a lifeline by offering a new contract with a sizable increase from the peanuts he was taking home before, lost the battle for his signature. The 27-year-old, probably due to Safpu dragging their feet in trying to release him from the shackles at City, put pen to paper in a deal at Leopards long before Wits came knocking.

There are plenty more caught up in a similar predicament and do not have the services of big-time lawyers to make their worries disappear. Safpu have a massive role to play here, along with a host of other pressing matters regarding the livelihood of footballers in this country, rather than chasing the PSL bigwigs and their bonuses as well as telling Sexwale, the only African candidate for the Fifa presidency, he’s no good.

In their manifesto, Safpu declare that “we are the only voice that represents the needs and interests of professional football players in South Africa”.

Well, start acting like it. - Saturday Star

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