Johannesburg - Ipeleng Community Centre, at the heart of Soweto in Jabavu, which doubles as a church, proved to be an ideal venue to announce Moroka Swallows’ “second coming”.
Hundreds of excited Swallows fans made noise just outside the church during the Sunday service as they waited for Panyaza Lesufi.
The fans have positioned the MEC of Education in Gauteng, who is the face of the consortium that bought Free State Stars’ status, as their messiah.
He called himself Moses when he shared how that consortium will take their beloved Swallows to the Promised Land. Lesufi was two hours late when he made his address.
He said that he was delayed by the church service he was in, seeking blessings for the journey the club is about to embark on.When he entered, they sang Panyaza re tla go leboga jwang which translates to “How are we ever going to thank you, Panyaza”. Before him the MC struggled to control the crowd.
But when Lesufi spoke, even those with hearing aids, heard his every word.He preached unity as he declared that Swallows are “owned wholeheartedly by South Africans without Leon Prins.”
That was met with huge applause, even though Swallows’ “second coming” turned out to be the birth of a new club.”There are things that we need to accept, and I want to plead with you so that you can understand why we are going to lead you in that direction,” Lesufi said, addressing the fans.
“Please understand. The first thing, which is very important because our first match is on (August 23), we need to decide on the name ... “
But you can’t have two teams with the same name. You must know that Leon Prins’ Moroka Swallows left us with a lot of debt ... “We need to separate (the two clubs) so that we must not start on a bad footing. There are also regulations by the PSL, Safa and Fifa on this thing.
“We have agreed, even though it was a very difficult process, that for the transition we need a name that will allow us to clean all of these things and be a part of a bigger family. We have suggested, and we are hopeful that you agree with us, that when we contest (next month) we will contest with the name of Swallows FC.
“When we sort out the issues of the other team in the ABC Motsepe League, then we can go back and reclaim that name.”
In short, this is a new team that strategically aligned itself with the old Dube Birds but avoids copyright infringement. That also means that Swallows FC is free of the sins and debt of the Dube Birds.
Lesufi didn’t mention the club they have bought the status from, even though it’s common knowledge that it’s Ea Lla Koto.He, however, revealed that the new club was likely to finalise everything on Wednesday with the PSL and that the club will use Dobsonville Stadium as their base and Ellis Park as an alternative venue where they will host “their big games”.
Despite the announcement venue being small, it somehow managed to contain the rich history of the Birds - senior members wearing old jerseys with sponsors like Elephant Beer emblazoned on them.
The younger generation wore wrinkled new jerseys, seemingly found moments before when they realised that it would be the day Swallows found their flight again - even though it’s not the original Birds, just a close acquaintance.
The Star