Here we go again, it’s happening again, Cape Town City are in the relegation danger!
My late friend Benjamin Silombela often used the term, “where there’s sunshine, there is a shadow”.
Benji was raised with a lot of discipline and by the holy book called the Bible. He went to a Christian boarding school, where he used to say he was taught how to be humble.
He was always ready to remind you to stay humble in good and bad times. When things go bad, don’t stress and when things are going great, guard against celebrating too long.
In the case of City, things have gone amazingly great for them since their inauguration into the PSL. That was just six years ago!
While it might feel like it was yesterday that the club was born, it was not created by fluke or accident.
Owner John Comitis had thought everything through to the very last detail about the club.
The walk-through at the club’s launch, with John and his trusted lieutenant Natalie Barlow, they unveiled the manifesto which said a lot about what the club stood for.
Now that I think about it, City’s talented digital team could create quite a decent advert with that manifesto.
They demonstrated through some truly amazing content on their digital channels, that they weren’t just going to be just another club born out of the crazy status-buying in South African football.
From player announcements to behind-the-scenes clips of the team’s pre-match chants, City were setting the bar higher with every post.
Blue and Gold would be the chosen colour of the home strip, borrowing it from the colours of the original Cape Town City of the 60s and 70s and John was very clear about his intentions to revive the Hartleyvale Stadium precinct with professional football.
They’ve achieved a lot of what they’ve set out to do and even more if we’re honest. Two trophies with two decorated South African legends in charge is something special in the days of former players not given the opportunities to give back to the new generations of the stars of Mzansi football.
I’m pretty sure you can already tell I’m going to tell you that there’s nothing to worry about. The people at Office 202 Greenmarket Place will figure out a way to get out of this.
They did some of the best business in the transfer market over the past year and half or so. They have managed to go under the radar and bring in some really promising players, but there is always a player or two with a big influence leaving.
At the very beginning, it was Lebo Manyama and Aubrey Ngoma, Robyn Johannes and Fagrie Lakay all proved how indispensable they were to the club, as it often took some time to plug the holes in the they’ve left when they left the club.
The Citizens have found ways to get the most out of their top players, and in the cases above, those specific players managed to revive their careers at the club.
The shadow of the sunshine is over Greenmarket Square at the moment, but I’m not worried about nothing because City have managed to get through some real challenges without a scratch.
It’s all in these experiences gained that you can trust the leadership and squad they have.
After facing Chippa United Tuesday night – entering the match in 14th place – they’re facing another of Khanyiso Mayo’s former teams bottom-of-the-log Marumo Gallants on Saturday.
I expect City to get some points from these games, especially against the current bottom side Gallants and maintain the gap between themselves and the other teams in relegation danger.
No matter the results, you ain’t gotta worry ‘bout nothin’!