{"id":73614,"date":"2025-07-18T18:24:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president"},"modified":"2025-07-18T19:01:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T19:01:39","slug":"mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president","title":{"rendered":"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Eswatini. <\/strong><\/span><b>Renowned South African business mogul and football executive Shauwn \u2018MaMkhize\u2019 Mkhize has officially taken the reins as President of Mbabane Highlanders AM, ushering in a new era for one of Eswatini\u2019s oldest and most beloved football clubs.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In a candid interview on SABC Sport with Andile Ncube, MaMkhize shared her vision for the team and reflected on the lessons learned from her past football ventures\u2014particularly her controversial 2021 acquisition and relocation of Bloemfontein Celtic to become Royal AM.<\/p>\n<p><b>A New Era, Not a New Club<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Speaking passionately about the heritage of Mbabane Highlanders, MaMkhize made it clear that her leadership would not come at the expense of the club\u2019s identity. \u201cMbabane Highlanders is a 1952 club. It has a structure and a history exactly like Bloemfontein Celtic. There\u2019s no need for a name change or relocation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The addition of \u201cAM\u201d to the club\u2019s name, she explained, is symbolic of a new chapter, not a break from the past. \u201cThe \u2018AM\u2019 just represents a new era,\u201d she added, reassuring supporters that tradition would be preserved under her leadership.<\/p>\n<p><b>Owning Her Mistakes: A Public Apology<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The football executive was refreshingly open about her past missteps\u2014especially the emotional fallout following her purchase of Bloemfontein Celtic. \u201cI think Bloemfontein Celtic was caught in the crossfire [when I bought the club]. Today, I must say I apologise profusely to them for changing the name. I could\u2019ve done better,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n<p>MaMkhize acknowledged that the move to establish Royal AM in Durban was deeply personal. \u201cI needed to have Royal AM for the sake of my son. I owe him that, and they [Celtic fans] were caught in the crossfire,\u201d she confessed.<\/p>\n<p><b>A Fresh Vision Rooted in Respect<\/b><\/p>\n<p>With Mbabane Highlanders AM, MaMkhize is embracing a more inclusive, community-based philosophy, pledging to work closely with local stakeholders while safeguarding the club\u2019s culture and loyal fanbase.<\/p>\n<p>Her appointment has sparked widespread interest in Eswatini and the broader region, as supporters eagerly watch how the club evolves under her transformational yet reflective leadership.<\/p>\n<p>As MaMkhize steps into this new role, her promise to honour the soul of Highlanders signals not only a personal evolution\u2014but a potentially defining moment for football in Eswatini.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Eswatini<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Eswatini. Renowned South African business mogul and football executive Shauwn \u2018MaMkhize\u2019 Mkhize has officially taken the reins as President of Mbabane Highlanders AM, ushering in a new era for one of Eswatini\u2019s oldest and most beloved football clubs. In a candid interview on SABC Sport with Andile Ncube, MaMkhize shared her vision for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":73613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[249],"class_list":["post-73614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Renowned South African business mogul and football executive Shauwn \u2018MaMkhize\u2019 Mkhize has officially taken the reins ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Renowned South African business mogul and football executive Shauwn \u2018MaMkhize\u2019 Mkhize has officially taken the reins ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eswatini\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-18T18:24:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-18T19:01:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-18T18:24:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-18T19:01:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president\"},\"wordCount\":393,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Eswatini\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president\",\"name\":\"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President - Eswatini\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-18T18:24:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-18T19:01:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Renowned South African business mogul and football executive Shauwn \u2018MaMkhize\u2019 Mkhize has officially taken the reins ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\",\"name\":\"Eswatini\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President - Eswatini","description":"Renowned South African business mogul and football executive Shauwn \u2018MaMkhize\u2019 Mkhize has officially taken the reins ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President","og_description":"Renowned South African business mogul and football executive Shauwn \u2018MaMkhize\u2019 Mkhize has officially taken the reins ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president","og_site_name":"Eswatini","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-07-18T18:24:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-18T19:01:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President","datePublished":"2025-07-18T18:24:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-18T19:01:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president"},"wordCount":393,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg","keywords":["Eswatini"],"articleSection":["all news","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president","name":"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President - Eswatini","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-18T18:24:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-18T19:01:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Renowned South African business mogul and football executive Shauwn \u2018MaMkhize\u2019 Mkhize has officially taken the reins ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/07\/sm_1752852459.040507.jpg","width":1080,"height":720,"caption":"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/mamkhize-vows-to-honor-highlanders-legacy-as-president#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mamkhize Vows to Honor Highlanders Legacy as President"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/","name":"Eswatini","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}