JOHANNESBURG - “We can’t dwell on the South African Football Association’s irregularities only,” Rhoda Mulaudzi said during a zoom meeting with members of the South African Football Journalists Association. “I think as a country, together, we just have to fight for women’s football or any women’s sport.”
Mulaudzi’s sentiments are not meant to annihilate the football federation's well-documented shortcomings - it has in many ways failed to bridge the gap between women’s and men’s football.
In fact, this is an appeal to stakeholders to come on board, as the association has proven that it can’t steer women’s football to greener pastures by itself.
After years of waiting, in August last year Safa launched a National Women’s League (NWL) that was earmarked to “match the professional standards of the Premier Soccer League”. But Safa delivered a semi-professional product that didn’t have a commercial sponsor.
To further irk critics, Safa came across as nonchalant when they squeezed the confirmation of Mamelodi Sundowns' crowning as the champions in a press release that was largely meant to justify why they canned their vice-presidents Ria Ledwaba and Gay Mokoena.
“The National Women’s League will be concluded and the current log standings, with a handful of matches to be played, be declared final,” read a paragraph from the Safa press release on June 21. “It is on this basis that Mamelodi Sundowns Women’s team is declared the league champions for the inaugural 2019/20 season. The Safa national executive committee further confirmed that Janine van Wyk Ladies team and MaIndies are both promoted to the NWL for next season.”
Granted, there was no chance for Sundowns to pop the champagne and chant “we are the champions” as the country was under lockdown but a mere statement wasn’t befitting for a Sundowns team that had won all 21 league matches.
Many waited for the royalty packages to be sent to Chloorkop soon after. Two months later, the Brazilians are yet to feel worthy of being the champions - no trophy, medals or prize money have been handed to coach Jerry Tshabalala and his troops.
Did I say prize money? My apologies. How could there be hope of a prize money when the rest of the 11 teams, except Sundowns who are owned by mining mogul Patrice Motsepe, do not receive basic monthly salaries?
Most of the players in the NWL have to juggle between nine to five jobs on weekdays and being footballers on weekends. “So how do you expect a player to perform if she still has to juggle with a day-to-day job?” Mulaudzi asked.
“If you check overseas, the only thing that they focus on is playing - no one is working and we train twice a day. So as a coach, in SA, you can’t have all your players for all the training sessions because they are working. Sometimes, they do not even have money to go to training.”
She added: “We need sponsors for the league to operate smoothly and be professional. Players need to be paid, and I think the only team that’s doing that is Mamelodi Sundowns. So, what about the rest of the teams?”
Everyone reaps what they sow. Mulaudzi knows that well as her success with the Brazilians, who qualified for the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League after winning the NWL, inspired her move to Belarus side Dinamo Minsk alongside Lebogang Ramalepe.
The duo, and several Banyana Banyana teammates, made headlines with their European moves between the end of June and early July.
But the failure to track their progress is a sign that women’s football probably gets local attention when players do well internationally - as was the case when Banyana qualified for their maiden Fifa World Cup in France last year.
However, an outside observer would be sure that Safa are running a well-oiled machine in the NWL, considering the swift strides by Banyana players recently. But Ramalepe has refuted the impression, saying getting to the top takes self-courage and determination.
“They (Safa) do appreciate (our international moves). But as a professional footballer, you need motivation and if that is not there, there’s not much that you can do,” said the Banyana vice-captain upon signing her first professional contract.
“We went to the World Cup, and they said they’d start a professional league, of which it’s not because players are not earning anything from the league. I think they need to involve more stakeholders to ensure that players are earning something.”
Mulaudzi, however, reasons that it’s not entirely Safa’s fault that women’s football hasn’t got the exposure it deserves, saying few knew what the NWL would be about, and barely a handful of supporters, media outlets and stakeholders followed the programme until the finish.
“We can’t dwell on the South African Football Association’s irregularities only,” she said. “I think as a country, together, we just have to fight for women’s football or any women’s sport.”
She added: “It’s not only Safa that needs to make things happen for us. I also think the department of sport has an upper hand to ensure that people are aware of women’s sport. Even when it comes to the media, they don’t give women’s football enough coverage. It starts with all South Africans!”
Women’s month comes only in August but Mulaudzi and Ramalepe are making their voices heard that “women should be empowered with the necessary resources to work on their respective craft at all times”.
@mihlalibaleka