Menzi Magubane
Newly promoted Richards Bay Football Club will not follow in the footsteps of Thanda Royal Zulu and be sold without kicking a single ball in the DStv Premiership.
On Saturday, the Natal Rich Boys were crowned GladAfrica champions and became the fifth KZN team to compete in the elite league next season.
It will be the first time in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) that KwaZulu-Natal will be represented by this many teams in one season.
The city of Richards Bay will have the first team to compete in the premiership, but that is if club owner Sifiso “Jomo” Biyela manages to fight off temptations.
Reports suggest that Biyela has had offers to buy his club premiership status, even before they got promoted. But Biyela has assured supporters the club is not for sale.
“This is my club and there’s no offer on earth that I could possibly consider,” said Biyela, after the club was promoted.
Before owning the club, Biyela was a general manager at Thanda and he helped them get automatic promotion in 2017.
At that time the now-defunct Thanda was owned by the Swedish-born Pierre Delvaux. The late Roger Sikhakhane was a coach.
Just days after Thanda was promoted, Delvaux surprised everyone by selling the club’s premiership status to AmaZulu before playing their first match in the premiership.
Richards Bay football lovers were shocked and left devastated by Delvaux’s actions, since they were looking forward to having the first-ever local team to compete in the premiership.
Biyela, however, managed to wipe their tears away when he bought Usuthu’s National First Division status. That is when Richards Bay FC was introduced.
The club has been promoted to the elite league after participating in the lower league for five years.
Image source: @IOL
