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MBABANE – Mbabane Swallows General Manager (GM) Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane has assured the team’s supporters that Archbishop Bheki Lukhele is still their President.

Lukhele, who joined the red and white capital city giants four seasons back, reportedly stepped down as the leader of Swallows at the end of the past season. Umkhonto Kashaka finished the 2022/23 MTN Premier League season on the third spot after accumulating 51 points.

Shy

They were seven points shy of log leaders and champions Green Mamba. The reports of Lukhele leaving the club started circulating on social media after the final day of the season.

Speaking on national radio, the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS) Sports Show on Monday, ‘Beyond 2000’ refuted the claims that Lukhele was no longer in charge of the team as reported in some local publications.

“I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to our supporters for taking such a long time to address them on the issue of the president.

“They want to be informed on developments of the club every time as after being shocked of what was reported in newspapers and social media platforms,” Zwane said.

Reason

The former national team, Sihlangu manager said the reason behind the late update was due to the fact that he wanted the situation to be calm.

“As Mbabane Swallows, our current leader is Bheki ‘Sihlahla’ Lukhele, who was given the reins to lead three or four seasons ago. He is still our president; we are seeing what is written in newspapers and it confuses us; what we know is that he is still our president,” he said.

‘Beyond 2000’ revealed that they were waiting for the return of the president to address them and clarify the current situation in the team.

“The letter that was circulating on the social media platforms confuses us more as we don’t know where it comes from and its authenticity is not guaranteed.

“We will hear from him when we eventually meet him,” he said.

Custodian

The former Umkhonto KaShaka goal custodian further said that they never got the letter; maybe the elders who gave the All Nations Church in Zion founder the rights to run the team got it.

Meanwhile, Zwane also refuted the claims that the team selected a special committee to go and have an audiance with Lukhele.

On the other hand, the ‘Birds’ Chairman of Elders Absalom ‘Mvana’ Ngwenya could not be reached for comment as his phone rang unanswered by the time this report was compiled.