Africa-Press – Eswatini. – Manzini Wanderers players are reportedly shunning the team’s activities after being owed salaries for the past months.
This publication reported in the past months that the hub giants had a huge bill that has gone unattended for months. Players and coaches were unpaid for almost the entire season. The wage bill at Wanderers was confirmed to be at E130 000 monthly. The hub giants, who struggled and had to fight relegation throughout the past season and eventually survived about three games before the MTN Premier League 2022/23 ended, lost their South African Director, Cedric Mashile Mathatha, early in the season, which resumed last October. Adding up the months from last November to last month, E130 000 totals E910 000, nearly E1 million. However, most players’ contracts have since been renewed. It took the team’s officials, like their Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Governor, in Lawyer Bongani ‘Bhanyaza’ Mdluli, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Diana Johnson, known as Girlie and the management committee led by club legend Berger ‘Hotline’ Nxumalo, to save the club’s blushes, as they sacrificed from their own pockets and also got assistance from other parties to avoid relegation.
Involving
They even took the team out for a team-building get-together involving their legends, like William ‘Cool Cat’ Shongwe, among others, for motivational purposes. However, the latest developments regarding the club suggest the players have resolved not to attend any team activities until they are paid their full salaries. They last attended training before the game against Moneni Pirates, which was last week. A source within the team camp confided to this publication that the players were not training for the past two weeks and wanted money owed to them in full. “What is happening in the team is a sad thing. I don’t blame the players because they also have to feed their families, but the tam is actually making sure that they get their salaries,” shared the source.
One of the players shared their experience of playing without a salary. “I don’t even have money to buy just a small thing like tissue. Yes it’s true that we have resolved that we are not going to go to any of the team’s activities until we have been paid our money. Yes we understand the financial struggles that the team is currently faced with but we also have to feed our families,” the player who spoke on condition of anonymity said. Wanderers Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mduduzi ‘Mr G’ Ginindza, when contacted, asked the players to be patient. “We ask the players to be patient with the team. “The team is doing all its best to make sure that they get their salaries. We plead with them not to expose our dirty linen to the media but come to us so that we can find a solution. We understand that they have not been paid and we are also not happy with this,” he said. Ginindza went on to reveal that before the PLE Trade Fair Cup, which was won by Green Mamba, they asked the players to win the trophy so that they could get paid their salaries.
Best
“The players know very well that we do not have any sponsors and that is why we asked them to do their best and win the Trade Fair Cup so that they can get paid,” he added. Holding a team at ransom in soccer is not something new, after it was also reported in the SA’s Motsepe League First Divison last season. Troubled Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) had their players not going to training before their Motsepe Foundation Championship campaign. Meanwhile, Wanderers are expected to face Nsingizini Hotspurs in their MTN Premier League opener at King Sobhuza II Memorial Stadium in Nhlangano on Saturday.
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