Humphrey, last week you told us the incredible story of how you managed to eventually sign for Kaizer Chiefs after almost being snatched by Mamelodi Sundowns. How was your Amakhosi experience?
Ja, it was not easy because when you got there, there were players who were already occupying positions, meaning there was something they were bringing to the table and you needed to do the same. When I arrived, Pollen (Ndlanya) was about to leave, so I did not have somebody that I knew well in terms of being a homeboy, you see. But the one person who made me settle in is (Wellington) Manyathi because he used to talk to me as he knew the Chiefs culture and what was needed from the players' point of view. Then as time went by, I managed to settle in. At Chiefs, I also found guys like the late Shakes (Kungoane), Lifa (Gqosha) and Jacob (Tshisevhe), and they were welcoming, so there were no problems.
That's good to hear.
But to be honest, I felt the pressure and I sometimes used to ask myself, "Am I really here?" At Naturena, it was a set-up where you found that your training kit was there, everything was there, awuzi nalutho (you don't come with anything), and when you finished training you could get something to eat. The environment, for me, yangithusa (it amazed me) at the same time, to say I need to work so that I don't lose the benefits that I'm seeing, ha, ha, ha. The set-up at Chiefs back then was great, man. You could feel that you were in a team, whereas at (Moroka) Swallows sometimes we would train es'gangeni (on an open field) … things like that. The guys I've mentioned kept on encouraging me, telling me, "You are a good player, just play your normal style, relax and we will support you." Indeed, I got support, especially from the person I was competing with because Lifa was the one who was playing defensive (midfield), yet he was the person who supported me the most. Neil Tovey too. He was a good leader, if I may put it that way, because he also helped me settle in, telling me, "Do this, do that." I shared a room with Gqosha the first time I went to camp, but the guys I shared with the most are Doctor (Khumalo) when he came back, as well as the late Sizwe (Motaung) when he came back. The latter was a cool person, who was full of respect and could give good advice. You could see that this guy came from a humble family, a humble place. He was humble, for me, Sizwe. He was a great guy and very disciplined, as he knew what he came there to do. Doctor was okay too. The two of us understood each other because he was playing offensive and I was playing defensive. Because of that, we were closer to each other and he could advise me on what to during the game.
We understand there were characters in that group too. Tell us about those.
Shakes was his own person. Anything he wanted to say, he would say it. He was not someone who had secrets or who bought face. He was an open book and wasn't someone who was pretentious and made as if he liked you when he didn't. For me, he was an open book and could say whatever he felt at that particular time. He was funny. If you were a trialist coming to Chiefs and had a small heart, you would easily get angry with him because he could ask you questions like: "Hey, what are you doing here? Are there no teams where you come from? Everyone here has a position, so whose position are you going to take?" Ha, ha, ha. But we got used to those things because we didn't really take him seriously in those moments. For that reason, you would never get angry for whatever he said to you since, like I said, he was an open book.
Share some of those crazy moments you shared with your then teammates at the club in those days.
Ja, there were a lot of funny things that happened, ha, ha, ha. I remember one time we were travelling to Bethlehem to play against Free State Stars. Eish! We were using those Greyhound buses, or similar buses to those. We had Zane Moose in the team and you know as a practicing Muslim he had to pray at certain times of the day. Mind you, whenever he had to pray, the bus had to come to a complete stop. The coach, Paul Dolezar, would be furious in those instances, ha, ha, ha. For him, it was like lo muntu uyasibambezela manje (this guy is delaying us now). He would ask the driver, "Why we stop now? Why we stop now?" Zane would go and pray while Dolezar was busy going on his rant, and the guys would find the funny side to all of this. So, every 30 minutes Zane had to go and pray, meaning another stop for us. It was tough.
Ha, ha, ha, those must have been the longest trips for the Serbian-born coach.
Here's another story. During one of our trips, one of the players had to use the ablution facilities inside the bus. Unfortunately, the toilet couldn't flush. When he came out, the smell followed him and haunted all of us inside the bus. Needless to say, the coach went mad. He was like, "Stop the bus! Stop the bus!" After the bus stopped, he opened all the windows, ha, ha, ha. Eish, we couldn't stop laughing! I'm telling you, the smell in that bus in that moment was so overwhelming it could have killed all of us. In fact, we were left with no choice but to get off the bus while the coach was busy bringing some fresh air into the bus. You know how crazy Dolezar was.
We don't think 'crazy' even comes close to describing him. So, you poor souls had to stand outside for a while?
Yes, Dolezar chased us out of that bus. He said, "Go outside! Go outside!" I think a spray or something could have solved the issue, but the bus had to stop for something like 30 minutes. Dolezar said the culprit would be fined, but we as the players were adamant that we wouldn't snitch on one of our own, whom I can't even bring myself to mention here due to the sensitivity of the story. Remember the coach had been sitting in front, so he couldn't have seen who used the bathroom, which was situated right at the back. So, he said, "Hey, I want this player! I want this player! I want to fine him!" I kid you not, that guy could issue out fines like it was a hobby to him. He didn't think twice about fining you half of your salary if he felt you deserved it as a player. Because I remember when we went to Bloemfontein to play Bloemfontein Celtic one time, which was during the time when Siyabonga (Nomvethe) broke his arm. I don't know if you remember that game. Nomvethe was still new to the team and he scored two goals that day. I used to stay in the township and so did the late Martin Zwane. We were on our way to join up with the rest of the team ahead of the trip, but unfortunately we got held up in traffic as there was a car accident near East Rand Mall. We arrived late and saw the bus departing Naturena. Well, we tried running after it, but it turns out Dolezar had told the driver not to stop for us. When we came back to training on the Monday, he fined both of us half of our salaries, ha, ha, ha.
You must be kidding!
Just imagine! We could see the bus and we tried running after it, but he told the driver, "No, don't stop. I'm going to fine these players." Leyo nyanga leyo sadontsa nzima (That was the longest month for us). I'm telling you, Dolezar didn't play around when it came to fines. The late Thabang Lebese also had his stories. He used to come late to training all the time and then try to hide his car. You see at Naturena when you enter via that side with a bushy area? He hid his car there and then came up with the excuse that he had caused an accident and left the car at the scene of the accident. Little did he know that, that day, we were going to train on the other side, near to where his car was hidden. Suddenly, we heard Dolezar screaming, "Here's the car! Here's the car! Here's the car!" He then fined Thabang double for that, ha, ha, ha.
STILL IN TOUCH FUN FACTS
First paycheque: R2 500
Biggest bonus: R30 000 for winning the Rothman's Cup
Opponent I respected the most: Roger Feutmba
Team I would have loved to play for: Orlando Pirates
Favourite PSL player right now: Teboho Mokoena
Best coach I played under: Jeff Butler Paul Dolezar
Craziest request from a fan: It was just requests for T-shirts, mostly
