THOHOYANDOU – The voting process for the teams that will participate in the annual Telkom Charity Cup tournament comes to an end at midnight today.

The voting process started last month shortly after the official launching ceremony of the competition during a meeting that was held at the Midrand Hotel in Johannesburg.

The pride of Thohoyandou, Black Leopards Football Club, started the voting process on a sad note. They were lying in the ninth position during the first week of the voting process. Things turned better by the day after they embarked on their roadshow, which saw them overtake Moroka Swallows Football Club.

At one stage, Black Leopards had about 800 votes compared to 6 900 for Moroka Swallows. The present situation is that Black Leopards are approaching the 40 000 votes mark, while Moroka Swallows are behind with about half of the Leopards’ votes.

The club that is leading the pack is Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club. Sundowns, or The Sky is the Limit as they are affectionately known, took the matters seriously from the onset and were dictating the terms from day one of the voting process.

Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates were also competing with each other for the second and third position respectively from the start. Teams that will participate in the one-day event will be announced during a press conference that will be held in Johannesburg next Monday.

The draws for the tournament will also be conducted during the conference. The tournament will be staged at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg next Saturday, July 31. If Black Leopards make it to the last four, it will be their third time in a row to take part in the competition since their promotion to the Castle Premiership Division four years ago.