Nephew to the late great Kaizer Chiefs maestro Ace Ntsoelengoe, Molefi Ntsoelengoe carved his own path in football, starting out at Moroka Swallows, a much stronger version of the current Swallows FC side, back in 1996. The ex-midfielder would leave for what he terms "greener pastures" at SuperSport United some four years later, where he linked up with coach Pitso Mosimane. His last club was Maritzburg United, after which he retired in 2006 due a troublesome knee injury. Not securing promotion to the Amakhosi senior team remains a sore point for the 46-year-old, as he says, "I believed I was better than some of the players there. Definitely, South Africa missed out on seeing the best of me in the famous Gold and Black jersey."
Hola, Ace! It's been a while, but we've finally managed to 'catch up' with you. You can never 'run away' from Soccer Laduma…
Ha, ha, ha, my schedule has been tight of late, but it's good to be back on your pages. I've just been doing some spring-cleaning in my house as you called me, because this recent long weekend was quite hectic and one was away in Phalaborwa with other legends, but we can talk.
Good. Yours was an eventful career, but let's start from the very beginning of the journey.
Well, my first club in the professional ranks was Moroka Swallows, remember? But I'm a product of Kaizer Chiefs. From Chiefs, then I went to Qwa-Qwa Stars, but let's not talk about Qwa-Qwa Stars because it's not like I played there. I like when I talk about my journey to say it's Chiefs and then I went to Swallows.
It would have been your biggest dream, then, to earn promotion to the Amakhosi senior side.
Yes, yes, because I was training with Chiefs already. Remember I was playing for the national U20 team under Bra Shakes Mashaba, while playing for the reserve side of Chiefs. I was then promoted to the first team and then I was training there. You know, I was still young and competition was still tight by then. I was there at Chiefs until I ran away. Actually, they didn't chase me away, ngabaleka (I ran away)! I disappeared… I decided to disappear, ja, ha, ha, ha. They didn't know where I was.
Why did you pull a Houdini act on the club?
Because I could feel that I was ready to play. I wanted a contract. I felt gore (that) I was ready to play for the first team, but they were taking me as a youngster, delaying things. They were telling me, "Relax, everything is okay", but on my side I was like, "No, I'm ready to play maan." Because I had pressure when it came to some of my teammates. Some of my teammates from the national team, abo (the likes of) Naughty Mokoena, Lovers Mohlala, Junaid Hartley, Alton Meiring, already they were playing professional, and now I had that pressure to say, "Nami (Me too), I want to play professional. I can't come here to the U20s maar (yet) I'm still playing for the reserves of Kaizer Chiefs." I was going to sign, that was home for me, but I felt, "Now is the time maan. These people are delaying me." Then I disappeared, until I met Shepherd Murape, who invited me to Swallows.
Disappearance at Chiefs, reappearance at Swallows. This has 'trouble' written all over it.
Those who recognised me were like, "What happened now?" I was like, "Hayi maan, it's one of those things." Again, I was not scared to do that because I remember one time I was travelling with ubaba ka (the father of) Doctor (Khumalo), the late Bra Pro (Eliakim Khumalo). I was always travelling with him – to training, after training, you know. He once told me, "Molefi, you know what, mfana wam (my boy)? If bazokumoshela is'khathi laba la ekhaya, (they are going to waste your time these ones here at home), mina I wouldn't mind if you can join Moroka Swallows." He told me that. Now, when Shepherd invited me to trials… training actually, not trials because he saw me somewhere and said, "You must come, I want to sign you immediately." So, when he told me that, I didn't hesitate because I knew that I would make Bra Pro proud wherever he was. He would be happy and never be angry just because I had left. It was his dream that if Chiefs didn't promote me, then my second option should be Swallows.
Seems the old man believed in your abilities and was willing to put the interests of your career ahead of those of the club. Now you get to the Dube Birds, how do you find things there?
Everything was okay. Remember that was the time of the likes of "Chicco" Twala and Mike Mangena. The coach was Murape. Obviously he knew me, so immediately… I had two training sessions. It was on Thursday when I got there and then on Friday, they were supposed to go to camp because they were going to play Manning Rangers in the Rothmans Cup at Orlando Stadium. That Friday, they said, "No, no, no, where's your clearance? We are signing you. We must go to the camp nawe (with you). You are playing on Saturday." I only had those two training sessions with them and then on Saturday I played against Rangers. You see how easy it was for me? When I arrived there, I told myself, "These people are not better than me." I went there with huge confidence because remember I was training with the first team of Chiefs, uyang'thola (you get my point)? I was not afraid of anyone, anything, because I was coming from Chiefs.
Who was your roommate in camp?
When I arrived there, that weekend, I was sleeping with the late Jokhonia Cibi. Then when time went on, the late Jacob Lekgetho became my roommate. Sad to learn that they are both no more. Cibi was a stubborn boy, like any young boy from the location, but a very nice person. As for Lekgetho, he was very quiet and reserved, but also a nice person.
One well-known fact about those days is that there was no money in the game.
Ah, hayi, outhi yam (no, my friend)! Actually, there was no money compared to now. But at least we could survive on what we were getting at that time. David Chabeli was our chairman at the time and he was a good person, although when they talk about him in the media, some people say he was destroying the club or he was not a good guy… all those things. But when you got to know him closely… unless maybe he was not treating us the same way because to me, he was a good person and was like a father to me. He liked me very much and whatever I wanted or needed, he was always there for me. That's why I'm saying Swallows was like a home for me because I stayed a number of years there and really enjoyed myself.
What did you enjoy most about playing for the club?
So many things. You know when you are home, you enjoy everything. I knew all the corners of the club, I knew everything about the club, I knew everyone. Remember I was once a superstar of that team, I was a star of that team. I enjoyed all the moments. I'm Molefi Ntsoelengoe because of Moroka Swallows. They made me who I am today and I'm proud of that. They gave me an opportunity to express myself. Even today, so many people on the street, supporters, when they greet me, they know this is Molefi Ntsoelengoe from Moroka Swallows.
There must have been loads of memories made.
Ja, ja. There are a lot of things that happened and we used to have fun. For us, it was not all about playing. That's why we were like a family, you know, because we were doing everything together. We were travelling together all the time. Yes, we had so many fun moments, so many memories made. We played under different coaches because you know coaches come and go, and we enjoyed ourselves under different coaches. There were so many characters in the team and I was one of those who were loud and always cracking jokes, ha, ha, ha. We had Cibi, the Lekgetho brothers, Sisa Nombe… so many of them. It was amazing, to be honest.
STILL IN TOUCH FUN FACTS
First paycheque: R3 000
Biggest bonus: R1 500
Opponent you respected the most: John Moeti
Team you would have loved to play for: Kaizer Chiefs
Favourite PSL player right now: Themba Zwane
Best coach played under: Pitso Mosimane
Craziest request from a fan: Requests for takkies and money, which I always obliged to.
