Doc calls for football to go back to Mandela’s unity days
Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo has accused football stakeholders of dividing the nation and neglecting the vision of late president Nelson Mandela of uniting the country through sport.
With the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar starting on Sunday, South Africans are looking at it in despair as it will be the third World Cup on the trot without the national team Bafana Bafana. South Africans know the euphoria that comes with being represented at a World Cup after Bafana partook in 1998, 2002 and 2010.
Mandela witnessed all these events and famously made a surprise appearance before the 2010 final at Soccer City between the Netherlands and Spain.
Khumalo saw firsthand how the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations win and the 1998 Fifa World Cup participation brought immense pride to the country.
“He did what he did and those who have remained behind have broken everything. They have deprived South Africans of what Madiba started,” Khumalo told the media at Mandela’s former residence in Houghton.
“We have to eat humble pie and go back to the drawing board, and let’s interrogate what made us so powerful in sports, all sporting codes. He (Mandela) did say that through sports we can unite the nation but through sports, we are dividing the nation today.
“Unfortunately, it’s only those, which I’m not scared to mention, like the PSL and Safa ... they are taking us to another level,” he said.
Khumalo was showing his support for the Mandela Remembrance Walk and Run during its launch at Sanctuary Mandela.
The former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder was emotional as he remembered the time he was invited to visit Mandela at the house.
“History was made in this house. I remember very well that before 1996 [Afcon], I had an opportunity to meet him here and he did say that through the 1996 tournament, we’ll be able to fix the country and it’s exactly what the boys [Bafana] did (win the 1996 tourney),” Khumalo said.