Let charity begin at home

Dear Dr Sokhela,

Sorry for the slip of the tongue, I meant to say Dr Khoza. Let's blame the mistake on Julio Leal, who called you Sokhela when you unveiled him as the new brains aboard the Buccaneers ship.

Beating about the bush is not my strongest trait, so let me cut to the chase.

It is a point of concern to millions of football fanatics that you have yet to make good on your announcement about the charity element of the PSL since the brutal and untimely death of the Telkom Charity Cup.

Your words on April 7 still ring loud in my ears: "... as of today, the Telkom Charity is no more."

As a religious reader of newspapers and an ardent listener to radio shows, you will recall that your announcement was received with scepticism and cynicism.

That was largely because even a rocket scientist would have struggled with the reasoning advanced: that the annual one-day, I repeat, one-day, charity event was killed to ease fixture congestion.

Now even if Chris Rock had cracked that joke, few would have managed a chuckle.

I put it to you, my powerful soccer supremo, that the people of the south - to borrow a line from a Facebook friend - miss the charity like a fat kid misses a piece of cake they have just swallowed.

Back to your statement at PSL's Parktown offices on April 7: "As the PSL, I want to reassure everybody that the charity element will not be lost ... we are going to make sure that what we started we don't abandon. We will start a charity foundation to ensure we give to those deserving as we have been doing since 1985. Charity will not suffer in the process ... it will remain as long as this league survives."

That was what you told the nation.

Regrettably, no announcement has come to the fore since April 7.

Perhaps the reason is because you said the announcement would be made in due course.

Damn these two words. "Due course" lacks a deadline. It has no timeline. It can be anything between the day of your announcement and the next time Pirates win another impressive treble.

It can be anything between now and the day the Chloorkop team fulfils Patrice Motsepe's dream of conquering Africa.

Or when Kaizer Motaung deems a local coach to be competent enough to take charge of Kaizer Chiefs.

The point is we don't know when that day will come, if at all, in our lifetime.

South Africans are a giving lot. The iconic tournament has given football fans, millions of whom are blue-collar workers who earn meagre salaries, a platform to help those who can't help themselves. It is the one thing that still gave meaning to the now meaningless spirit of ubuntu.

This is a plea to you to announce how the charity element is going to come into play. Please do it pronto.

Any further delays will only serve to confirm the widely held view that the Telkom Charity Cup was discontinued to create room for the beer jamboree that will benefit only father (Pirates) and son (Chiefs).

Cynics could argue that little consideration, if any, was given to the fact that ours is a country with millions of beer bellies.

Of course, South Africa is a country of contradictions. Capitalism is our currency, yet building a caring nation is our commitment.

Nothing wrong with Chiefs and Pirates exploiting their popularity and appeal to sponsors by having their own tournament.

But there's something terribly wrong when statements are made and not followed with concrete action.

Announce the PSL charity element as promised, Dr Sokhela ... oops, Dr K.

That could lend itself nicely as your 67 minutes in honour of the great man, that 93-year-old young guy named Nelson Mandela.

Sincerely,

BBK