Raymond Jaravaza
HIS name has been bandied around on social media for a possible return to football a few months after losing the chairmanship of the oldest team in the country, but for Kenneth Mhlophe, at least for now, he prefers to laugh it off as nothing short of bar talk.
Countless ‘stories’ on social media platforms in recent days claim that Mhlophe is eyeing a position in the Zifa Southern Region executive, whose elections are set for next year.
The Zifa Southern Region is led by Andrew Tapela.
What irks the former Highlanders boss is that faceless individuals are ‘speaking on his behalf’ claiming that he wants to return to football in the capacity of the Zifa Southern Region chairman.
B-Metro Sport spoke to Mhlophe to clarify his position and this is what he had to say.
“It’s frustrating to wake up every morning and my name is mentioned on countless lists of people that are vying for the Zifa Southern Region chairmanship. No one even bothers to ask for my side of the story,” said Mhlophe.
B-Metro Sport bluntly asked him the pertinent question: “Does he intend to return to football leadership soon?”
“Three years of leading Highlanders taught me that football is a people-driven sport and leaders are a by-product of the wishes of the people. No one knows what will happen in future and only time will tell if I will be interested in running for any particular office in football,” he said.
Through his security firm – Nokel Security – the businessman sponsored the Zifa Southern Region top goal-scorer-of the month award and sports journalist award of the month for six consecutive years.
His dance with lower league football, albeit as a sponsor, was cemented in 2014 and the marriage ended when current Division One boss Tapela took over the reins from former chairman Musa Mandaza.
The Tapela-led executive did not approach the security company to ask for a continuation of the sponsorship deals and the partnership collapsed.
Tapela faces a number of challenges going into the Zifa Southern Region elections next year with the major contention among clubs being the lack of sponsorship for the league.
