Black Leopards midfielder Xolani Ndlovu says he doesn't know what is going to happen to his football career if the match officials continue to force him to remove his traditional and religious necklace called Incweba.
When he replaced the injured Andiswa Ndawonde in the 2-1 loss to Polokwane City, Ndlovu's Incweba was spotted by referee Thokozani Mkhize, who ordered him to remove it.
Ndlovu stood his ground, which gave the Leopards technical team no choice but to wrap it with tape. At the end there was an understanding between the player and the officials, and he was allowed to play.
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"With Incweba I protect myself from muti, so it won't affect me you see," Ndlovu tells snl24.com/kickoff.
"It's something I got from church obviously, I attend the Shembe church. I'm someone who's been struggling with injuries you see. Sometimes I would stay about six months not playing.
"So I went to the church and the pastor told me, 'In football there are people who are using this and that, we are from different homes, that's the reason you are always injured, so let me make you strong.'
"That's when he put the Incweba on me. I even asked the pastor, 'What if I'm with the opposite sex? Should I take it off?' He said, 'No way, you don't take this off no matter what.'
"Then I asked him again, 'As a soccer player sometimes they [the clubs] make us bath in some strange stuff...' He said, 'You don't take this off, it will only be taken off your body once you are dead.' It protects me from every bad thing, so I won't take it off.
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"Even in our last game I had it on me and they saw it, but they told me to never wear it again [on the field] unless I get something like an under armour you see, like a polo neck just to hide it, but I couldn't find it because I needed a yellow one [to match the Leopards jersey] and here in Polokwane there's not that many shops."
Ndlovu says the problem he had with referee Mkhize over the weekend was because he wanted him to completely remove it.
"I ask the referee who is this thing disturbing? It disturbs the opponent in which way? He tells me 'the rule says'. I told him, 'Yes I do understand the rules but this thing is from my church and it goes hand in hand with my ancestors from home, so I won't be told by you to remove it, I don't even know you. Tell me to wrap it, don't tell me to remove it.'
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"Then from there he gave me an attitude. I turned to the fourth official and asked him, 'My brother, you are telling me about rules that were made in Europe while I'm an African. Is that what you are telling me? This is Africa, we are practicing traditions and we've got cultures here. You are telling me about a white man's rule but you are an African yourself? You know very well our beliefs. It's not like I was wearing a necklace.'
"So this is creating problems for me because even the coach is now telling me he will never field me again unless I get an under armour to hide it. So if I don't have an under armour it means I won't play again, because obviously all the referees are going to target me now."