By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Kaizer Chiefs and Polokwane municipality announced a long-term partnership that will see the Glamour Boys utilise the new Peter Mokaba stadium for the next three years.
Chiefs are expected to play three home league matches and some of their cup competitions.
The announcement was made in Polokwane on Friday ahead of the DStv Premiership match between Chiefs and Royal AM on Sunday.
Polokwane executive mayor, John Mpe has described the re-union as a reason to celebrate.
“It is indeed a special day for the City of Polokwane to welcome back Kaizer Chiefs at home, “said Mpe.
“We are happy to announce that Polokwane reached a three season agreement with Kaizer Chiefs to have them back here in our City as their alternative home.
“This is our drive as we have mentioned to promote sports tourism, grow the local economy and ensure maximum and effective utilization of our facilities that must be utilised to stimulate our economy.
Chiefs marketing and commercial director Jessica Motaung has applauded the municipality for the smooth negotiations.
“It’s been wonderful to sit with you and negotiate this and to have a commitment for three years,” she said during the announcement.
“We are not doing a short term engagement, it is a commitment for three years. We want to be here in Polokwane, engaging with our supporters. But also the City of Polokwane to grow.
Meanwhile Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has bemoaned injuries to key players as he tries to avoid a fourth successive defeat in a row when they welcome Royal AM.
Another defeat would equal Chiefs’ worst ever sequence of defeats, a mark they set in April last year when they lost four games on the bounce.
It is tough times at Naturena, with Zwane admitting their plight has not been helped by injuries to two of their most experienced players.
Stalwart central defender Erick Mathoho has made just a single substitute appearance this season, sitting on the bench eight times in all competitions, including the 4-0 loss to AmaZulu a fortnight ago.
Zwane says his continued absence from the team is due to persistent injuries, the last of which was a toe issue.
“Eric is definitely still part and parcel [of the squad]. He played a huge role in the past and even now,” Zwane said. “He is just unfortunate, and not only him.He is one of the players who have been injury-prone this season. It’s him and players such as Khama [Billiat] as well.
“Even last week we were preparing him [Mathoho] for the game, or two weeks back if I’m not mistaken, and he couldn’t make it because of a toe injury.
“We thought he would be fully recovered last week and again he started jogging and we thought he was ready, but it troubled him. We had to rest him and until now he hasn’t recovered fully.”
Billiat has also been a big loss to the side as he has not appeared since the resumption of the league after the World Cup.
“There are about five or six senior players who have [been inured], which is worrying but we can’t force matters. We have to wait for them to be ready and then throw them in.