ALTHOUGH he is happy with his team’s promotion to the Safa ABC Motsepe League, the chairman of MP Thwala All Stars, Mfanekhona Thwala, is afraid of the challenge of dealing with the cost of managing the team in this division.
Thwala All Stars from Mandeni, and Dumehlezi FC from Hluhluwe, are the teams that have been promoted to the Safa KwaZulu-Natal ABC Motsepe League after winning the provincial Play-Offs in the Safa KZN Hollywoodbets Regional League in Richards Bay, a few weeks ago.
Dumeleze defeated All Stars 1-0 in the final.
The promotion to the ABC Motsepe League of Thwala All Stars means the return of hope for football lovers in Lembe region, as last season they did not have a team in the ABC Motsepe League. This follows the sale of the Muzi King Masters at the end of the 2024/2025 season, which was bought in Durban to form the University of KwaZulu-Natal FC.
“The team was established in 2015, it was the first time we went to the provincial Play-Offs in Hollywoodbets. So it means a lot to us as a team to succeed for the first time playing in the Play-Offs.
“Our coaching team led by Xolani Mzimela and Kai Kai Mhlungu who is his deputy, we are very determined to keep it because of the excellent work they have done.
“Also, we trust their experience as we will be playing in the ABC Motsepe League division, which is a division they know, because they have trained in it before, especially Kai Kai who has trained in different teams in that division,” said Thwala, who revealed that five players of this team were tested by Premier Soccer League (PSL) teams.
However, he expressed concern about the challenge of running a team in the ABC Motsepe League without financial support.
“We want to keep the team and we understand that our fans and football lovers in Mandeni are very interested in the team’s promotion to the ABC Motsepe League category.
“But the truth is that it is expensive to manage a team at this stage. Without financial support, the package wears out, it becomes very difficult. This is what made teams like Black Lions and Muzi King Masters end up being sold.
“Even if we don’t want to get there, but if we don’t find people who will support us financially, we can end up doing the same.
“We have not heard anything from our local municipalities, Mandeni and Lembe municipalities, regarding the plans they have to help us.
“They are just congratulating us. So we would appreciate any kind of help they can give us, especially Lembe. Since we are in the ABC Motsepe League, we should not stop at Mandeni but we have to represent Lembe region as a whole.”
Thwala is worried just like this, the manager of Newcastle Warriors, Justice Sithole, has also come out publicly that he is putting the team up for auction due to struggling with the cost of managing the team at this stage.