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Kickoff
PSL & Safa needs a dialogue
LETTERS to the editor
THE MONTH THAT WAS
The R1-million amateur • Former Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Alex Bapela was brave enough to directly call club president Patrice Motsepe when he discovered Themba Zwane playing amateur football in Tembisa. Fast forward a decade and he has been proven right, with Zwane having now established himself at Chloorkop. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo finds out how Sundowns paid the equivalent of R1-million for an amateur player.
‘I should score more’ • Having waited three years for his first goal after making his professional debut at Bloemfontein Celtic, striker Tshegofatso Mabasa is biding his time again at Orlando Pirates, where he has played under three coaches in his first season with The Buccaneers. The stunning rise of Gabadinho Mhango has kept Mabasa on ice, but he tells KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo that he is not discouraged and ready to fight for his place at his boyhood club.
Honoured and hated • Willard Katsande was born into a poor family and had it rough in his teenage years when the death of his father forced him into the life of a vendor, who later relocated to the rural areas to be a herd boy that also sold firewood. He might have ended up as a security guard or supermarket cleaner had he not held on to his football dream that later culminated in him joining Kaizer Chiefs. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo traces his life from rags to riches, but finds that many in his former home despise him for his success.
‘I was sad, angry and mad’ • Amidst a tumultuous 2019/20 season that’s seen Bongani Zungu’s Amiens relegated, reinstated and relegated again within a lengthy legal battle due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bafana Bafana star has still managed to shine brightly amongst Europe’s elite. KICK OFF’s Lorenz Kohler caught up with the 27-year-old, who opened up about his failed deadline-day transfer to LaLiga, life under national lockdown and how he’s planning to lead by example to usher South African football into a bright new era as he chases his life-long dream.
Time to bid Wits goodbye • Just a year before a historic centenary celebrations, BidVest Wits will cease to exist after they were bought by Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila. The financial strain might have been building up for two years but what wasn’t foreseen was that the club would be sold so soon. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo details one of the saddest chapters in domestic football.
My Dream Team
2019/20 Bundessliga champions
‘I’m ready for the PSL’ • Black Leopards coach Alan Clark may not be familiar to many Premier Soccer League fans, but he comes with a fine pedigree and fresh ideas on the game. He has worked with Pitso Mosimane at Bafana Bafana, helped to nurture Percy Tauat Mame lodi at Sundowns and has experience of helping young players develop in Europe. Hereveals reveals his coaching journey to KICK OFF’s Nick Said, that started when a promising playing career was cut short due to injury.
The murder that HAUNTS Chiefs • August 10 will mark exactly 44 years since the flamboyant Kaizer Chiefs team manager Ewert Nene was brutally stabbed to death in the Ekurhuleni township of KwaThema on his way to sign Teenage Dladla for the AmaKhosi. Affectionately known as ‘The Lip’ because of his gift of the gab, legend has it that Nene could convince a lion out of making a meal of him! He was blessed with an uncanny ability to spot a star and was behind the early Chiefs talent identification of skilful players. KICK OFF’s Thomas Kwenaite chats to the last person to see Nene alive, Jan ‘Malombo’ Lechaba, and takes a nostalgic trip down memory lane to an era when Nene was considered the ultimate motormouth, long before Abdul...