Kaizer Chiefs will this year begin mobilising support for the 2002 Telkom Charity Cup. This was revealed by Chiefs PRO Putco Mafani at the competition's draw on Tuesday after the final votes showed the Naturena side coming third behind rivals Orlando Pirates and leaders Ria Stars.

The Pietersburg side took the lead with 52861 votes followed by

Pirates with 35 217, Chiefs (34 599) and Moroka Swallows (33 760).

Both this year's Charity Cup semifinals and the final are at the

FNB Stadium on Saturday.

Mafani said: "This is a wake-up call for us and the other clubs and

we should not be bitter. But what we are going to do now is start

marketing for next year's Cup."

Mafani said there was nothing sinister about Stars taking the lead

in the votes.

"Real Rovers from the North played with us in the same Cup, those

people are loyal. In fact had Ria Stars not been based in the

Northern Province they would not be here."

Being drawn against Pirates was viewed by Mafani as a blessing in

disguise.

"Half the coach's work is done already because players are

automatically motivated. Players hate it with a passion to lose

against Pirates, so this is good for us."

Mafani's counterpart at Pirates, Thabiso Phakiso, said: "We respect

Chiefs and the fact that they are the Vodacom champions.

"But we are the League and the BP Top 8 champions and we know that

our semi-final with them is like a final, but we will be in the

real final of the day.

"We know they have youngsters and so do we. We also have Steve

Lekoelea and Thabo Mngomeni coming back."

Ria Stars co-director Ria Ledwaba said she was expecting the

results which her club received.

"We did not take it for granted that people are listening to radio

stations or reading newspapers so they will just go and vote.

"I personally went out to ask people to phone. I did not rely on my

PRO.

"Teams are taking fans for granted. In fact when one considers the

population in our country these votes are a joke, there should be

more than this."

Ledwaba said people are always surprised when her team achieves

something.

"People were surprised when we were promoted to the PSL, they were

also surprised when we beat Kaizer Chiefs and when we finished in

the top eight.

"We never said we command more support than Chiefs or Pirates but

what we are saying is more people phoned in for Ria Stars. This

shows that football is not for Gauteng only."

Swallows spokesperson Godfrey Gxowa said they were looking foward

to playing Manyora in a cup game.

"We've had a go at Chiefs and Pirates and it will be the first time

that we play Stars in a cup game and we have done all our

preparations.

"People went on speculation while we went on fact, we knew that we

will be here and that is why we have been at camp for the past two

weeks," concluded Gxowa.

A visibly disappointed Sundowns PRO Alex Shakoena said: "This is

embarrassing, people are not going to see the teams they want to

see.

"By the time the votes closed we were number four, why audit

something that is computerised?"

The Pretoria-based side would have been defending champions if they

made it.

The first semi-final will be at 10am while the second will be at

12pm. The final will kick off at 4pm.

The Premier Soccer League said there would be more than 1000

security personnel.