Enemies now friends
The football academy run by Mario van Niekerk has just celebrated its 24th anniversary. Using the universal language of football, it has kept thousands of young people off the streets. These are violent streets, where many young lives pay the ultimate price. Through the academy Mario has created a safe environment. Young lives rub shoulders with coaches and mentors. Remarkably, some of these lads and girls are now qualified coaches leading the next generation of student footballers at the academy. It’s heart-warming. It’s lifesaving. And it’s true. From just a handful of kids nearly two and a half decades ago, the soccer academy has grown manyfold and now covers a host of other recreational activities too. The charity impacts on many thousands each week.
Mario explains, “Gang activity is part of the culture of the Cape Flats and if children choose to be a part of that at such a young age then we need to give them alternatives both in terms of leisure activity and an education that steers them towards employment. We should teach trade and work skills at a younger age. We can’t and shouldn’t fight the gangs, we need to redirect their focus.”
He speaks with passion. He knows, he’s been there. The story doesn’t end there. The man on the street corner with Mario is also a former gang leader and bitter rival. This encounter simply could not have happened 24 years ago. The miracle is that over more recent years they have worked on projects together as ‘brothers’. Mario was leader of the Ugly Americans based in Heideveld and Kiyan was leader of the Funky Junkies across the highway in Bonteheuwel. Street gangs. Bitter rivals.
Both men live with a remarkable story of cheating death. For Mario, a malfunction in the trigger mechanism of a revolver pointed at his head offered precious seconds to escape. For Kiyan, a glancing bullet wound to the skull was the trigger to recovery after serving a lengthy prison sentence. It’s a remarkable story. And after 24 years, Mario continues to be committed to the task of sparing lives. One of his biggest fans is Nigel Pascoe, the founder of Guernsey charity Goal50. The partnership began after Nigel’s visit to South Africa during the 2010 World Cup and since that first meeting, Goal50 has helped raise finance for a children’s safe home, the commencement of building an Eduhub Centre and fed countless thousands from township communities.
