adminINCIDENTS of violence at Highlanders’ matches have reached nauseating and alarming proportions and there appears to be no answers, barely eight months after a life was needlessly lost, that of Thembelenkosini Hloli (May his dear soul rest in peace).
Our hearts bleed that there were no convictions for that senseless murder.
And already before the season has even started a Caps United fan was battling for life at a local hospital. It is saddening to see pictures on social media of fans using catapults to hurt other people and others protecting a hapless fan from hooligans.
It’s a pity we cannot use such images to identify such miscreants, as such were used to arrest touts who abused a Harare woman over a mini-skirt, a precedent worth emulating.
Highlanders should acknowledge that the problem is beyond their scope and they need help particularly from the police. That way we believe the law enforcers will even act more ruthlessly, and that is if we accept that we have a problem.
Infact, the time is nigh and the demand is that we should all put our heads together and duly seek assistance, if we have to.
In 2000, if my memory serves me right, then Highlanders chairman, the late James Magwana-Tshuma (May he rest in peace) directed that umuntu obanjwa ephosela any missile onto the pitch should be given a thorough beating before being handed over to the police. It might have sounded cruel then but I think it is vital now.
There should be no excuses for any such anti-social behaviour because yibo abasiqalileyo abantu beMpilo end. Isintu sithi siphathe njani umuntu wemzini noma ehlanya? Our tolerance levels are usually judged by how we react to such kind of characters.
The acknowledged fact is that those people who are sources of all problems at BF, are in the minority.
And in football the world over, the cardinal rule is that a team is always held to account for its supporters’ behaviour.
So clubs should acknowledge, and go a step further to create a conducive atmosphere for fans to enjoy the equivalent of what Pele nicknamed the most beautiful game.
Last Sunday there were close to 90 police officers at BF, and after the mayhem that engulfed the beautiful stadium, most likely at Highlanders’ next high profile match they would more than double that figure. And do you know what? That will be at the expense of the club.
A total of 9 000 spectators, my own estimate, attended last Sunday’s match, and certainly the next match, because of the war zone scenario that has been created by the unruly supporters, the number might be less. And you know what? The team’s pocket will be affected BIG time.
Already the violence has had its victims. Rewind back to the Hatsfield incident which saw coach Kelvin Kaindu exit the club.
And there are painful and costly lessons to be learnt from such senseless violence.
Football is suffering a dearth of sponsors and Highlanders itself went through a particularly lean period when it did not have backers but their fans seem to have forgotten that episode, as their actions could cost the team, they love so much, funding from BancABC. No sponsor wants to be associated with a brand that will soil their name and football hooliganism ranks among the top acts that would certainly chase away sponsors.
Matches pitting Highlanders and the other big teams in the current scene are no longer derbies, but wars.
The powers that be should own up, put up structures to contain violence (if they still have that capability), send the correct messages, organise road shows and even seek a sponsor for their anti-hooliganism crusades.
But we are sorry to say that everything now points to a leadership crisis at Highlanders. Please can real leaders stand up now and say no to violence. It would help if the team’s leaders would address the fans before match kick-off and during halftime as part of measurers to stem the throwing of objects into the field of play.
Talking about such leadership, one can not help but recall such charismatic fellas as Liqhwa Gama, the late Mangwana-Tshuma and Ernest “Maphepha’’ Sibanda.
Last Sunday I noted that Caps United approached its supporters and they listened, we want somebody at Highlanders who can also wield such “magic’’.
PERHAPS Highlanders now needs a communications department, something that has been lacking. They used to have good communicators in the form of their secretary-generals, but now they have a CEO who appears to be running everything. We need someone who can issue a statement “condemning” and not “condoning” VIOLENCE.
Yesterday the hooligans targeted their own coach Kaindu, what guarantees do we have that they would not target the executive next time around.
The PSL AND Zifa are guided by rules and regulations. Where they could have exercised punitive measures, they have been lenient.
The deduction of points, excluding certain teams from certain competitions because of their unruly supporters, making teams either play in empty stadia or banning them from playing at home, were the likely options, but lo and behold those were not effected.
Do we still remember Leo Mugabe and Leslie Gwindi and a certain team playing morning games?
And yes, things are now out of control. The hate language being spewed on social media has not helped things. Perhaps clubs should now think about having their own official pages on Facebook, and report anyone masquerading as their clubs to Facebook.
The tribal vitriol spewed in one page claiming to represent a Harare-based club was totally uncalled for and such comments should have been removed by the administrators of the page as they stoke violence at games.
The challenge is on the club (Highlanders) to act, before expecting the police to do more. They can begin by sending their marshals for retraining.
It is up to the club itself to stand up, own up, admit and acknowledge that they have failed to stem the rising tide of violence in Bulawayo, and seek assistance from all stakeholders.
These include the police, club members, supporters, residents associations and the media.
IF Caps United have done it before, it’s high time that Highlanders DID it too.
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Online Reporter