Tension is mounting between the Makhado Local FootballAssociation (MLFA), an affiliate of the Safa Vhembe region, and club owners, particularly in the Kutama/Sinthumule area.

The clubs boycotted games for the past two weeks, calling MLFA officials corrupt and mediocre when it comes to football administration. Clubs also refused to pay the R160 affiliation fee for the coming Altech Auto Page Sir Samuel Tshiluvhu soccer tournament. MLFA league secretary James Maluleke said: "These team owners don’t have the right to boycott the games - who gave them the mandate to do so? We are going to deal with these people. They don’t even form a two-third majority as Nzhelele and Elim are not part of this boycott. They don’t have any right to stop the games. We are running this league in line with the Safa constitution."

The association held its annual general meeting over the weekend and the fate of the teams boycotting the games will be known soon. Vhembe Safa acting president Khorombi Nemavhola said: "I didn’t receive a report from the MLFA, so I cannot comment further on this issue, but we are going to investigate it."

The Sinthumule/Kutama stream has formed a new committee that will represent them when they have a meeting with MLFA. The spokesperson of the teams, Jeffery Thonga, said that the association “has been sidelining us in favour of other streams. We are also questioning the way they handle the finances”.

He added that the previous year they paid R120 to affiliate with the very same tournament and they did not know where the money was going, because the sponsor donated money. “We are challenging them to come with financial reports and show us. We are also fighting the issue of our teams being fined. It is so abnormal; one team got liquidated, because they failed to pay the outstanding fines, which were too high."