Shame on you, Mbalula!
THE film Invictus highlights the great store Nelson Mandela placed on sport as a powerful means of unifying a divided people.
Decades before Madiba wore the No 6 Springbok rugby jersey, visionary sports administrators, led by Ramhori Lutchman and RK Naidoo, knuckled down to dismantling the racial divisions that made it easier for the apartheid regime to consolidate its mad ideology.
The first shot was fired when the largest district association in the country, the Durban Indian Football Association, under RK took the bold step of dropping its Indian tag and going non-racial, risking suspension from the SA Indian FA and of breaking the laws of the country.
To cut a long story short, the Federation Professional League was launched with very little sponsorship. They turned to big hearted men such as Mack Naidoo whose family owned the amateur Mayville club Manning Rangers, which had a proud history of being one of the top clubs in the province.
Its manager was GR Naidoo, the brilliant goalkeeper and the doyen of the family. When he retired Mack, still a young man, took over. Rangers merged with another top amateur club, Sparks United, whose patron was another well known businessman, Herby Lazarus. Thus was launched Manning Rangers Pro FC.
At the time Mack entered the liquor industry. Both he and his charming and very hard working wife, Viggie, gradually built up their business which culminated in a bottle store in the mushrooming business centre of Chatsworth.
There were others who dipped into their pockets at various stages to fund the club such as Herby Lazarus, Kaycee Reddy, Param Joseph, Reg Naidoo, and the ex-player Chico Lazarus.
These patrons of the game got little or nothing back for their “investments” but they loved the sport and were prepared to buck the powerful apartheid monolith in fighting racialism in sport.
They signed on English professional Eddie Mulheron to coach the club and roped in some outstanding players such as Preston Julius, Super Naidoo, Mike Moodley, Dudu Naidoo, Mickey Pillay, Claude Lazarus, Sugar Singh, Paulen Murugan, and others.
In the early days the white NFL had succeeded in roping in massive support from a sport-starved Indian and coloured community and the FPL had to dish out the goods to attract these fans away from the NFL.
At the time I wrote a column for the Leader called “Ronnie Govender Says”, and lambasted these supporters, saying that talking to them was like singing the song There’s a Hole in the Bucket, because you ended up with a circular argument.
An irate fan wrote back: “There’s a hole in your head, Ronnie Govender.” I published the letter but we eventually succeeded in drawing these fans away to Currie’s Fountain.
We wouldn’t have been able to do that without the magnanimous and dedicated support of financiers such as Mack Naidoo, who died last week at 83.
Theirs was a noble sacrifice for which their only return was the enjoyment of a game free of racialism.
It was a sacrifice that has been given little recognition by the present Ministry of Sport and by media houses such as SAfm and DStv.
When great administrators such as Lutchman, RK, Dan Twala, and others who like Mack Naidoo passed on, the Ministry of Sport did not even send a message of condolence.
It is a shameful omission by Minister Fikile Mbalula. One does not expect such abysmal ignorance from a top former cadre of the ANC.
It was fitting that during Mack’s time, Rangers went on to win the coveted PSL league title against giants such as Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, and Santos. Even before that, behind closed doors, they took on and beat the socks off the mighty Durban City in a challenge match.
Mack was a fun loving man and a tough guy beneath his immaculate dressing and his gentle smile. But when he was roused usually in defence of the weak he beat the hell out of bullies, whatever their size.
Go well, Mack, although it is not acknowledged you and others like you have done this community and this nation proud with your truly magnificent contribution.