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enoni play in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and finished 14th last season. The aim now is to strengthen and develop the team and management. A new coaching team – Roger Palmgren and Johan Eriksson – has been appointed by the club and will start working when they get their work permits. The former has previously coached the national teams of Rwanda, Sierra Leone and the Congo, and the latter is a sports psychologist. The team will be expanded with staff from South Africa. There are ongoing negotiations with well-known names within South African football.
The name change to Thanda Royal Zulu FC is a logical consequence of the club’s new home arena: the ABSA Stadium at Kings Park, Durban. The name THANDA ROYAL ZULU emanates from an existing project driven by the Thanda Group that involves private enterprise, the Zulu Monarch and the Zulu Nation. Utilising the name for the club launches the brand into the mainstream South African public, particularly the Zulu Nation and supporters from KwaZulu-Natal. Agreement has been reached with the Zulu Monarch, His Majesty King Zwelithini Goodwill kaBhekuzulu for the use of the name for the South Africa-Sweden partnership.
The acquisition of the club was set in motion by Swedish entrepreneur Dan Olofsson, who is one of the partners in the South African company, Thanda Star Academy. Dan Olofsson has been deeply involved in South Africa’s socio-economic transition for many years, and founded Thanda Foundation in 2005 as a means through which to raise funds for South Africa’s community upliftment programmes.
The inspiration to purchase the club and become involved in football was stimulated by the Thanda Foundation’s involvement in community upliftment programmes with one objective: to support and cultivate role models for the youth in KwaZulu-Natal. Another is that it shall develop into something regarded as the region’s own "national team". The investment is long-term and timely in that South Africa is the host nation for the football World Cup in 2010. |
