High-profile soccer fans Masilo Machaka and Mamello Makha have insisted that as super fans they’re not entitled to funding from the government and the South African Football Association (Safa) to attend big tournaments.
“I hear people talking, and people will always talk, but I can state that as super fans we’ve never received any financial support from the government to attend big tournaments,” Machaka told sister publication Sowetan.
“Being seen at all the games doesn’t mean you must be entitled to go to the World Cup or Afcon. For all the international tournaments I’ve attended, I was funded by private people.”
Machaka made the disclosure after a social media wrangle between sports minister Gayton McKenzie and prominent fan Mama Joy Chauke, over World Cup funding.
The debate was sparked by Chauke’s X post on Sunday, in which she tagged Fifa president Giovanni Infantino, pleading for “any help from anyone” to attend the global spectacle to be co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
McKenzie replied to Chauke’s post by jokingly telling her to ask her husband to fund her World Cup trip.
“We got you a husband my sister, let him pay for the love of his life, the Euro is very strong, Frenchmen are known to be romantic, let him pay Sista Joy,” the minister wrote in response to Chauke’s post.
Chauke met her French partner, Nicolas “Papa Joy” Pitaud, at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, where she witnessed the Springboks lifting the trophy.
Makha also echoed Machaka’s views. However, the former Bloemfontein Celtic fan, who’s switched to supporting Mamelodi Sundowns now, didn’t hide that she suspects Mama Joy may have been funded by Safa in some instances.
“I usually go to private companies to get sponsors, like the recent Afcon tournament, we [alongside fellow super fans] had to hustle and try to get sponsors around,” Makha said yesterday.
“Safa never contributed to that, maybe for Mama Joy because she has been supported by Safa and Danny Jordaan. We don’t know the agreement they have between them, but I am not entitled to say anyone should take me to these events.”
Machaka and Makha were at the recent Afcon in Morocco, courtesy of one of Safa’s sponsors, Honor. The pair revealed that they hadn’t yet secured funding for the World Cup, but they remain optimistic of landing sponsorship.
Safa CEO Lydia Monyepao couldn’t be reached for comment.
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