Even though the government has allowed sporting bodies to host a maximum of 2,000 supporters owing to Covid-19 restrictions, the Premier Soccer League is still played behind closed doors. The league argues that opening up to only 2,000 supporters would see clubs operate at a loss because of the costs of hosting a match with supporters.
Mapaseka Moabelo fights back tears as she explains how the ban on supporters in football stadiums has affected her and her livelihood. Before the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions it came with hit, from March 2020, Moabelo sold braaied meat at football matches to make a living.
On the day of the march, a cacophony of noise around Orlando at noon fuelled “derby day” in what would otherwise have been another silent Soweto Derby between rivals Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. They hooted and signalled the sign of their beloved clubs – either the skull and crossbones for the Sea Robbers, the love and peace sign for Chiefs or the seven for Mamelodi Sundowns.But this gathering was not in honour of the most sought-after fixture in the country’s sporting calendar. The placards said it all: “OPEN UP THE STADIUMS! VUL’ AMASANGO!”
“The whole idea of Nafsa was to ensure football supporters unite behind one cause and purpose. And that is to support football.” “As young as I am and as a woman, I think people have given me respect because I am a football administrator. “But it’s disappointing that we haven’t heard from the mother body, even though at times they’ll feel that I am fighting with them. I am not. It’s the frustration in me. And it is also about carrying the hopes of people on my shoulders.”