I’m challenging Sundowns supporters Supporters are back!*

Vuyani Joni: Bro Saddam, the supporters are back at the stadiums from this weekend. That must be a great feeling among the passionate football lovers.

Saddam Maake: It was long overdue! We’ve been locked out for over two years when the state president, Cyril Ramaphosa, announced the first lockdown. Now we are finally back and the president has spoken! Mara mina ngibona ngathi (But I feel like) the PSL took too long because last week’s announcement was supposed to have been done a long time ago just like the other restrictions that were eased. Anyway, we appreciate the opportunity to have 50% of our supporters in the stands and therefore would like to thank the PSL chairman, Dr Irvin Khoza, and his executive committee. Personally, this decision has come at a right time when I have just been recently elected as president of SANASU (South African National Supporters) and getting the supporters back to the stadium is going to be one of my first challenges. Stadiums is where we belong, and we’ve been longing for that environment for so long. We are the 12th player and important stakeholders. There are teams who are run through gate-takings, especially from us, Kaizer Chiefs supporters. They’ve been suffering a lot without an income. Now we are back on track and our football will improve.

VJ: Right. SM:

My message to the supporters is that we should get vaccinated and go to the stadium. Even before the lockdown, stadium attendance was not up to scratch, for whatever reasons, and we need to change that. Maybe because we’ve been locked out for so long, people will have more interest in football and attend games, but we must start with the first things first. Get vaccinated and stop arriving at the stadium 10 minutes before the game. Now you need a vaccination certificate and your Identity Document to be verified before you get into the

stadium, so if you arrive 10 minutes before the game, what time are you going to finally make it into the stadium, let alone finding a seat? Every team will have to ensure that everyone complies

South African football supporte rs a re ba c k in the sta nds, a lbe it a t 50% c a pa c ity, from this we e ke nd following pre side nt C yril Ra ma phosa ’s a ddre ss to the na tion on the re la xa tion of C OVID19 re gula tions, whic h re sulte d in PS L c ha irma n Dr Irvin Khoza

a ddre ssing the footba ll fra te rnity a nd c onfirming the 50% capacity a t a ll footba ll ma tc he s. This is e xa c tly wha t the doc tor ha d orde re d for the pa ssiona te footba ll supporte rs, who ha ve ha d to e ndure wa tc hing the ir fa vourite sport a nd te a ms on te le vision for ove r two ye a rs! To some , not be ing a ble to

go to the sta dium wa s a mere inconvenience,but it wa s a life -c ha nging e xpe rie nc e to those who only found joy a t the sta diums. One of those is the le ge nda ry Ka ize r C hie fs a nd Ba fa na Ba fa na supporte r, S a ddamMaake,whoreacts to the decision to open the ga te s for the supporte rs in this inte rvie w with Soccer Laduma editor Vuya ni Joni. The lite ra lly we ll-tra ve lle d supporte r a lso ha s a pa ssiona te ple a to his pe e rs a nd re veals how the lockdown a ffe c te d him. with the COVID-19 regulations. For example, when Bafana Bafana played against Ethiopia, you needed to apply online and send your vaccination card and get your ticket at the stadium. When you got to the stadium, they verified your identity and then issued your match ticket. That’s a lot of work and a process before you even start looking for a seat. I’m a vaccine ambassador and I’ve been working with Ministers to encourage people to get their jabs so that they can go to the stadium as soon as the gates are open, which is now. Those who haven’t vaccinated, please don’t even come anywhere near close to the match venue because you’re not going to be allowed in. Also, those who only got one jab, when they need to have two, must also remember that they won’t be allowed (in) until they complete their vaccination. I want to challenge people to go to the stadium and support football even if it is not their team playing. We don’t want to see empty stands when we finally get 100% attendance cleared, like it was the case before the lockdown.

VJ: Why do you think that was the case?

SM:

I really don’t know, but I’m begging our people not to take us back there. It was not nice and whatever reasons they had, for not going to the stadium, let’s forget about them and support the game. Now we are talking about 50% attendance and that only applies to Chiefs and Orlando Pirates because (Mamelodi) Sundowns belong to 20% like these other teams. Their team has been doing well, winning trophies every season and dominating, and they have money and everything. Even when their president (Patrice Motsepe) allows them free entry, they still can’t fill the stadium up. What more do they want in order to support their team? I’m challenging Sundowns supporters to prove me wrong. When their team is playing, let us see them dominating the 50% space instead of just 57 supporters that have been attending their games all along. We were accusing the PSL of colluding with their sponsors to get more money from us buying decoders to watch games, which is why they were not opening the gates to the stadium. Now the gates are open and it is up to us who are vaccinated to attend.

VJ: As someone who is always at the stadium, how was the experience of watching football matches on television and not being allowed anywhere near the stadium?

SM:

“Those who haven’t vaccinated, please don’t even come anywhere near…”

Ingibulele mina leyo nto (That thing killed me) because I was so allergic to watching football on television. I’d sometimes find myself chasing my nephews and grandkids away from the house because I don’t want them to see me going crazy in front of our television. When it came to big games like the Soweto Derby, I would put up a projector and invite friends and fellow supporters to come watch at my place. Now, my match attendance record has been ruined because of this whole thing and it hurts me so much. Out of all the Soweto derbies played since 1970, I’ve only missed six to date thanks to COVID-19. Never did

I even imagine that one day I would be stopped from going to the stadium, and my life was so messed up for 23 months and I had sleepless nights because it felt like I was being abused. My club was losing games and I couldn’t do or say anything because of this virus. Now, you asked me about people not going to the stadium anymore, and I’m worried because what Sundowns supporters are doing is what Chiefs supporters

used to do, but we are not united anymore these days. I want to have my own group, someone else wants to have their own and we sit separately, and that’s not right. If we can

go back to our basics, more people would come to the stadium and that would help our team perform better, just like Sundowns is doing. The same thing that was done by Bloemfontein Celtic supporters before their team was sold. It is always beautiful to see Sundowns celebrating with their supporters and singing together, which is exactly what we used to do.

VJ: Which game would you say really hurt you the most, watching on television and wishing you were at the stadium?

SM:

Look, it was sad to watch the games and it hurt to lose to Pirates twice in a row (MTN8), but we returned the favour. It also hurt to see

our players trying so hard but we