July 28, 2004
By Lucky Sindane
SOCCER CITY, near Nasrec, will be ablaze with colour and sound this Saturday when four of South Africa's top soccer clubs battle it out for the Telkom Charity Cup.
Two Soweto soccer giants will be pitted against out-of-towners: the swashbuckling buccaneers, Orlando Pirates, face Mamelodi Sundowns from Pretoria and the local favourites, Kaizer Chiefs, take on Limpopo's Black Leopards at the FNB Stadium, as it is officially known.
For five weeks, fans phoned in votes for the top four squads. Matches were allocated by the number of votes: organisers said about 250 000 votes were received.
The new-look Sundowns finished top of the chart, with 72 785 votes; the defending champions, Chiefs, were placed second with 52 182 votes. Black Leopards garnered 48 534 votes and Orlando Pirates managed 47 692.
Changes were made to this year's system to prevent skewed voting, which in the past resulted in minnows taking to the field at the expense of the major teams. This year fans had the choice of phoning their votes through or sending an SMS.
On Saturday 31 July Kaizer Chiefs will face the Black Leopards in the first semi-final, which kicks off at 9:30am. Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns will contest the second semi-final at 11:30am.
The final will kick off at 4:30pm.
The winning team will take home the Telkom Charity Cup - as well as R400 000; the runner-up will earn R200 000. The two losing semi-finalists will each receive R100 000.
Putco Mafani, Kaizer Chiefs' public-relations officer, says: "We are going to show no mercy. We have just missed out on a R1-million prize recently. The leopard is going to be a perfect breakfast for us and we are going to skin it."
But Tshifhiwa Thidiela, speaking for Black Leopards, says the squad is ready for Kaizer Chiefs and will not disappoint the "thousands and thousands" of fans.
Alex Shakoane, the Pretoria club's spokesperson, says: "The days of breakfast and daily bread are over at Sundowns. We are ready for challenge, we've been working very hard."
But Pirates' public-relations officer, Mickey Modisane, says: "We'll be hitting hard this season. Our players have been playing together for a while and we are looking pretty good and solid."
The aim of the tournament is to raise as much money as possible for charity: any money collected from the voting and gate fees is given to registered charities.
Modisane urged charities that had not yet registered to do so.
Zikie Molusi, Telkom's advertising and promotions executive, says: "Soccer fans must act quickly and buy tickets for this event.
"Remember, apart from the primary function of this event, namely to help promote and restore the socio-economic well-being of disadvantaged persons in South Africa, this is the day on the South African soccer calendar, where dazzling football and excellent quality entertainment ensures an entire day of non-stop action for the fans."
Two huge screens will be put up on the northeastern and southern sides of the stadium so no one misses any of the action.
Kwaito artists Zola and Malaika will also help keep the fans on their feet.
"We must remember that the Telkom Charity Cup is not about winning or losing, but rather about creating a legacy event that every South African soccer fan owns," says Telkom's sponsorship manager, Zoleka Nkuta.
"Remember this is a one-of-a-kind event that only takes place in South Africa, thanks to the ongoing commitment and support from the soccer public," he says.
Tickets, which are available from Computicket, are R30 for adults and R15 for children.
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