South African match officials have recently come under fire and Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has shared his views ahead of the MTN8 final against Cape Town City.
Mokwena, addressing media ahead of their clash against Cape Town City on Saturday, says referees are human beings and errors must be expected, as they cannot control it.
"It's part of football, I think at the end, the referees are also human beings. Once there's human elements, you must put space for errors and that is what you can do," Mokwena explained.
"I always speak about which space I come from and the space I come from is about focusing on things you can control, and the preparations of the team, to make sure we prepare the team to avoid fear and anxiety."
Mokwena says as much as they cannot control that, referees can be encouraged and supported to give top perfomances on the day.
"But we can't control external factors and unfortunately in football, the referees are part of that. (We need to) support and encourage them to help them to give best perfomances because in football matches, you need three teams, your team, the opponents and refeering team to be on point.
"Fortunately, for us as Sundowns this season, we haven't had bad experiences. The referees are trying to assist our country to uplift our standard of football."
View images of the last time City met Sundowns in the MTN8!
