Residents in the Sinthumule-Kutama area have raised their concerns over the manner in which two soccer tournaments were held in the area during the Easter weekend.

Two groups, MAMU Community Sports Development and the Sinthumule-Kutama Community Sports Development, organised soccer tournaments in the area. The driving force behind MAMU Community Sports Development is Mr Jafta Mamugudubi, while the Sinthumule Kutama Community Sports Development is driven by Mr Kaizer Nengovhela.

Residents said that problems started when Nengovhela started his own tournament this year. "We used to take part in Mamugudubi's tournament and everything was fine, but things got out of hand when Nengovhela started his own tournament," they said.

Mr Tebogo Ratshivhungula of Tab All Stars was among those who raised concerns to Mirror about Nengovhela's tournament. He said: "We were not treated well at the tournament. We ended up pulling out of the tournament."

He added that Mamugudubi's tournament also did not give teams the money that it had promised. "Mamugudubi failed (us) when he promised people that the winning team will get R10 000. (He made the promise) before getting money from sponsors. They awarded the winning team R6 000 instead," said Ratshivhungula.

He said that Nengovhela was not supposed to take sides as an organiser, "but to our surprise, he was siding with Tshiozwi Dynamos. Some of the things we had been promised by the chairperson, Mr Nengovhela, were not there. We were told we would get soccer balls, but to our surprise there were no soccer balls," he said.

He added that it would be difficult for him to trust Nengovhela ever again. "Nengovhela was not supposed to have organised the tournament as a journalist. No wonder only Dynamos always appears in Mirror newspaper almost every time. Nengovhela is being biased in this regard," said Ratshivhungulu.

He said that he just did not know how he was supposed to complain to the newspaper itself. He added that, "Our team had to pull out of Nengovhela's tournament because it was not being run according to LFA laws."

When contacted for comment, the president of the Makhado Local Football Association (LFA), Mr Joseph Maphaha, said that when soccer tournaments were organised, the LFA was supposed to be consulted before the tournament. "There is insurance that we need to take out in case players get injured. The Sinthumule-Kutama Easter Soccer Challenge organised by MAMU contacted us, and I also invited the president of SAFA, Mr Nematandani, to attend. However, we were not informed about the tournament by Nengovhela," Maphaha said.

He said that two tournaments at the same time in an area caused confusion because the same teams competed for the prizes.

Meanwhile, Bishop Musiamu, Madombidzha Arsenal's coach, said that Nengovhela was not supposed to have organised a tournament as a journalist. "How can Nengovhela be objective when he also organises his own tournament? It is wrong, and that is where the problem started," he said.

When contacted for comment, Nengovhela said that his tournament had gone well. He dismissed allegations that he had represented Dynamos during the tournament instead of being an organiser. "We had only four sponsors and we never took any of their sponsors. They are not supposed to blame my tournament for their failure," said Nengovhela.

Mr Jafta Mamugudubi said that they could not give the winning teams the money they had promised them, because Nengovhela had taken money from some of their sponsors. Nengovhela denied this and said some people were going all out to dent his reputation.

(Kaizer Nengovhela is a freelance journalist who makes regular contributions to newspapers such as the Limpopo Mirror. Because he is a freelance journalist, the Mirror does not prescribe to him where he should or should not be involved. It is also not strange for journalists to be involved in community activities such as charitable organisations, church groups and sporting bodies. Allegations that the Mirror is biased in its reporting are taken very seriously, as we constantly try and evaluate our reporting to try and make sure that it is comprehensive, objective and in the interest of all our readers. Any complaints can be directed at the editor and input from readers will always be welcomed. - Editor)