By Chris Totobela
Makana LFA has taken a much-needed break and football games in Makhanda will now resume on 11 January 2025.
Teams have welcomed this break as most were starting to feel the heat as this is the most critical time of the year because of the initiation season.
Makana LFA secretary Akhona Heshu told Grocott’s Mail that this is the time for clubs to rest and enjoy the festive season. He also took time to clarify some of the talking points in the local game.
“We were supposed to have an AGM last weekend, but clubs did not pitch up. We had everything ready for them, including financial statements. We will now have an elective AGM in December 2025 where our members will get an opportunity to elect leaders of their choice.”
Heshu also explained the two streams system that the LFA is implementing in the Premier League as opposed to a single stream. “We understand that teams would like to play against all the opponents in the Premier League, but we have a challenge of fields as we have U13, U15, U17 and the Ladies’ League that have to share JD Dlepu Stadium and this makes it difficult for us to finish the league on time and be able to meet the deadline for the submission of our winner’s name to the region. That is why we opted for the two streams system.”
Makana LFA chairman Afika Adam also explained the issue of hosting a music festival at JD Dlepu Stadium, which resulted to damage to the pitch, forcing authorities to close the stadium for a lengthy period. “We are not responsible for the field and cannot answer questions related to it. We can only answer about football matches, officials and the like, but the municipality decides who they wish to hire out the field to, especially if the LFA doesn’t have any programme running at that time. If they decide to allow the music festival to take place there, it is up to them and we have no control over that.”
However, Adama confirmed that they had met with the organisers of the music festival concerning ploughing back something to football as the chief organiser [of the music festival]is also a former footballer who played at the venue years ago. Adam undertook to inform the public as soon as an agreement was reached as to how this would happen.
He also addressed the issue of renovations to the field. “The renovations are taking place in different phases – first up is the change rooms, then that will be followed by the grand stand and the public toilets. The pitch might follow at a later stage.”
Clearly the Makana LFA executive is working very hard behind the scenes to try and make sure the state of local football improves, especially after seeing the impressive number of supporters who watch games week in and week out.
Adam also wished football lovers, clubs, officials and all those associated with football the best festive season. “I would like to wish everyone a safe and joyful festive season and would also like to thank Grocott’s Mail and RMR for always supporting and following our programmes and for making us account when there is a need to do so. We really appreciate the work they are doing to promote our local sports.”
This is the perfect time for coaches to go back to the drawing board and see where to improve in 2025.
