Bra Victor! The man with the never-ending stories! What an amazing couple of weeks we have had with you on the 'In Touch' page and we are rubbing our hands in glee as we wonder what you have to share with us in this final instalment.
You remember the Vodacom Challenge?
Yes, yes, the pre-season tournament that was always highly anticipated and used by both Soweto giants to introduce some of their new signings…
(Kaizer) Chiefs were playing against Tottenham Hotspur in Polokwane. Chiefs had that zebra kit. So, before the game, we had a pre-match meeting where the teams had to show which kits they would be wearing. The Tottenham guys displayed the white kit and then Chiefs put their kit (on the table). And then one of the guys from Tottenham said, "That's a zebra", ha, ha, ha.
It didn't take him long to notice that, ha, ha, ha! That's the famous zebra kit which took banter between Chiefs and Orlando Pirates supporters on social media to a whole new level.
So, we were just laughing at what he had just said, and we were saying it looked like a zebra but it's Kaizer Chiefs. And then, for that game, the referee was Martin Helder from Angola. So, I was with Zakhele (Siwela) and we forgot that the referee did not understand isiZulu. Then he complained, saying, "Hey, speak FIFA language, I can't hear you. Maybe you are talking about me." Ha, ha, ha. We had forgotten that we had to speak English so that we can accommodate him. In many FIFA games, they group you with someone who understands your language. I remember in 2018, I was doing a match in Nigeria and my fourth official was from Senegal. I told him that we were going to have three minutes of additional time. When he lifted the board, it said four minutes. I was confused because I had said three minutes, ha, ha, ha.
Ha, ha, ha, maybe the man was just enjoying the game and wished it would go on forever. But it's actually quite interesting that, as a referee, you work with people who speak different languages, which surely presents challenges of its own.
Ha, ha, ha, yes, it's quite interesting. We also had some moments with the supporters. You know when you are a referee, there are times when the supporters are not happy with the decision of the referee, and they express their anger in different ways. You get those supporters who swear at us and they have different songs. But Golden Arrows used to have students and when they were not happy, there is a song they used to sing. I liked it. It would go like this: "Referee, lent' uyenzayo ay'lunganga, lent' uyenzayo ay'lunganga" (what you are doing is not right). It was a nice song, ha, ha, ha. But it also reminded me that I needed to get my decisions correct. But there were others who would sing songs and swear at you. The Arrows supporters sang that nice song, ha, ha, ha. There was a Pirates song which would say, "We will tell (Irvin) Khoza that referees do not like Pirates". When you hear that song, you must know that they are not happy with the referee and that you need to pull up your socks because the spectators give the game the atmosphere. If a player plays a back pass, they will shout. So, for us as referees, they give us a message, to say, "Wake up!" So, we love that atmosphere, ha, ha, ha. Even the white referees, like (Daniel) Bennett, knew. When that song started, he was like, "There is the song. Switch on! Switch on!" Ha, ha, ha. Even Victor Gomes knows the song and they knew it was time to switch on.
Ha, ha, ha, seriously?
Yes, yes.
That's brilliant because sometimes referees put up this façade of 'I don't care who says what, I'm running the show here'. Incredible to know you guys are affected by even the songs sung in the stands. Well, as for Gomes, who recently hung up his whistle, he certainly made South African football interesting with his controversial decisions and no-nonsense approach, didn't he?
He was a character as a referee, ha, ha, ha. There was a player from AmaZulu FC or Arrows who was not happy with the way Gomes was refereeing. So, the player spoke in isiZulu and Gomes heard him. The problem is that the player did not know that Gomes can understand and speak isiZulu. Gomes gave him a yellow card, ha, ha, ha. The player was so surprised that Gomes heard what he was saying. The guys in Durban thought that Gomes could not hear what they were saying, but he could hear them very well, ha, ha, ha. Gomes would not mess around. He would say, "Uthini? (What are you saying)?" Ha, ha, ha. And then he would give a yellow card. I can still remember how shocked the player was that day. We have seen so many things on the pitch, ha, ha, ha.
Indeed. Tell us more about what happens on the pitch while you are a referee.
You know when they introduced the communications system for referees, we did not know how it works. And you know as referees we could talk about all these things. Then you find that when one of the assistant referees sees a beautiful lady in the grandstands, you will hear him saying, "Eish, that lady with the pink shirt", ha, ha, ha. And then I had to say, "Hey, focus! We are in the middle of a match." Ha, ha, ha.
Ha, ha, ha, that's just crazy. Goes to show referees are also human. Thank you for your time for the last five weeks, Mr Hlungwani, and for the honest and hilarious manner in which you have delivered your stories. Our readers absolutely love you man, we can assure you of that. And maybe one day we will bring you back for one more go at it because we know that there's more where those stories came from.
Ha, ha, ha. Thank you for the opportunity. I had a good time sharing the stories. Our football is nice, and we are happy that when we retire we are able to share all these stories and enjoy because there are a lot of things that happen on the pitch and people don't know. When we get to share them, people will understand things better.
IN TOUCH FUN FACTS
Full name: Tinyiko Victor Hlungwani
Marital status: Married
Car: Hyundai H1 and Mazda Sting
Boots: Joma
Favourite TV programme: Giyani – Land Of Blood and news channel
Favourite food: Lamb, spinach and pap
Facebook or Twitter: Facebook
Siyagobhoza or interviews: Interviews
Favourite footballer: Daine Klate
Favourite celebrity: None
