Undoubtedly despicable and unspeakable
THE manner in which the men from Orlando marked their 75th anniversary was merry and fiery.
In winning their second treble, the Ghost were vibing to the sounds of R Kelly’s Happy People. The Sea Robbers were swashbuckling.
They were Zwelinzima Vavi’s unstoppable tsunami.
Retired captain Lucky Lekgwathi no longer needed to step into the gym to pump iron. He made up for it with all the trophies he lifted in those two seasons. All half a dozen of them: MTN8, Premier Soccer League (PSL), Nedbank, MTN8, Telkom Knockout and PSL.
Compare that with the current sorry state of the 80th anniversary. What do you get? Chalk and cheese. Oil and water. Fire and ice.
The only half-a-dozen language the current lot comprehend is to concede six goals. These days the Pretoria teams take turns to visit destruction of Cyclone Dineo proportions on the lousy louts who masquerade as Pirates players.
That the manner of defeat is despicable is undoubted. The conduct after the defeat is unspeakable.
Seeing players puffing hookas and quaffing vodkas and cognacs without a care in the world — after a heavy defeat — in the same vicinity of the heartbroken supporters is what grates their pancreas.
They feel there is no sense of shame.
Seeing a search for a coach conducted at a chameleon’s pace makes them go cuckoo.
They feel there is no sense of urgency. The conduct of the players and officials leaves the supporters at their wits end.
When another debilitating drubbing follows, when the first one is still fresh in their minds and the mocking and ridiculing reaches a crescendo, they cross the line from fickle.
It is against that background that the mayhem in Loftus was explained to me by one fanatical fan of Orlando Pirates.
When I asked him why he thinks a pitch invasion — read a moment of temporary insanity — is a solution, he said “we are at our wits end”. How? “Because Irvin Khoza always says we are the spiritual owners of the club only to turn around to treat us like doormats.” How? “There was plenty of time to hire a new coach given that the PSL had a Christmas break. After that followed a monthlong Africa Cup of Nations break.
“Six week, Kortjaas. There was six weeks to act! Bayasijwayela. Basenza izilima (They are taking us for granted. They are taking us for fools.)”
This guy is not alone in feeling like this. Many people I’ve come across have expressed a similar sentiment. It is something Pirates, an outfit that models itself as a club of the people, must take cognisance of.
Khoza is the first to declare that supporting Pirates is a state of mind. The state of the minds of the supporters is in a critical and unstable condition.
On Monday, at a press conference during which he condemned the violence that played out when Bucs got six of the best to nothing from a silky smooth Mamelodi Sundowns, he spoke about self-reflection.
Part of that self-reflection, one hopes, will include a reminder that the man in the mirror is not Pirates.
The people who fork out their hard-earned cash to support their team are Pirates. Their cries cannot be dismissed. It cannot be correct that in venting anger, infrastructure must be destroyed. Violence is no solution.
Those of us who bore witness to the internecine third force- propelled flames of fire know not to condone rowdy, mob behaviour. A new coach alone will not be a panacea to Pirates’ problems.
These days the Pretoria teams take turns to visit destruction of Cyclone Dineo proportions on the lousy louts who masquerade as Pirates players