WeeklySA_AdminPRESERVE: Recent sending by referee of Sekhukhune player Thabang Monare off the turf for wearing isiphandla (traditional bracelet generally made of goat skin), sparks criticism…
By Jo-Mangaliso Mdhlela
.The Constitution as the supreme law of the land is paramount, and no other laws or regulations should subvert its authority, chairperson of the ILIFA Lethu Institution, Mabutho “Kid” Sithole, said this week.
ILIFA Lethu (Indigenous Languages Initiative for Advancement) aims to promote, preserve and develop indigenous languages, and to ensure that African cultures “carried in indigenous languages, are not lost, not even in football matches controlled by western forces such as Fifa”.
Even Fifa Law 4, which forbids in football games the wearing of wrist bracelets, including iziphandla during football matches, has no authority to trump over the Constitution, which is the country’s supreme law, according to ILIFA.
In a recent Betway Premier Soccer League (PSL) fixture that featured Sekhukhune United and AmaZulu, the referee, Cedric Muvhali, took issues with Thabang Monare who wore an isiphandla (traditional bracelet generally made of goat skin, sending him to an early shower. Monare plays for Sekhukhune.
The referee’s decision was based on Fifa’s laws and regulations governing the running of Fifa games worldwide.
Muvhali came under wide criticism on social media, with many critics pointing out the inconsistent ways in which the law is applied. Sithole said in general terms, referees who eject players wearing iziphandla, act ultra vires, exceeding the legal authority of the country’s Constitution which protects indigenous cultural rights.
The Constitution protects community cultures through rights to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief, and opinion. Describing the ejection of the United’s player, Sithole said this was tantamount to “an African referee not being sensitive to their own culture – an embarrassing situation that must be corrected”.
“Referees must familiarise themselves with the country’s Constitution and the offerings of the Bill of Rights, which accord rights and privileges to cultural communities.
“It is just not acceptable for African referees to lack an appreciation for their own Constitution which, in the main, is about human dignity and the respect of our own cultures.
“We as the ILIFA Lethu Institution offer ourselves to conduct workshops that may help referees and football associations and other sporting bodies to have a deeper grasp of what it means to respect indigenous cultures in their different forms.
“The decision by the referee to eject from play a player because he wore isiphandla is regrettable, and we trust the PSL and the South African Football Association will engage our services so that we can conscientise players, referees, and officials about what it means to become cultural communities,” said Sithole.
The Constitution recognises the rights of persons belonging to cultural, religious, or linguistic communities to enjoy their culture, practice their religion, use their language, and form associations within that community.
Sithole said Africans should not be stripped of their dignity by denying them the right to wear cultural gear, including traditional bracelets made from goat or cattle skin, depending on cultural dictates.
“This is one way of connecting to our ancestors, and so the workplace and football playgrounds should never be used as a platform in which our cultures are bludgeoned and buried, as had been the case when the referee buried our culture, extinguishing it as if it did not exist,” said Sithole.
