Welcome back, "Ace". Tell us more about your time at Moroka Swallows, especially all the stuff you as players used to get up to when the cameras were switched off.
We used to go out a lot, but not during camps. It was only after games that we would go out and indulge in alcohol. The only thing that guys used to do… I remember the late Jokhonia Cibi, the late Jacob Lekgetho and Naughty Mokoena were zol (dagga) people, and I used to spend a lot of time with them in camp. They would always say, "Hayi maan masiyomani ngaphandle, sishaywe ngumoya. Sifun' ukubhema thina (No, man, let's go and stand outside, just to get some fresh air. We want to smoke)." Now I would go out with them and we would just have a conversation. So, I recall one time we went outside for a smoke, and next to where Cibi was standing there was a window of one of the rooms. We obviously didn't know whose room this was. Cibi was literally on fire, puffing away into the window, while also peeping through and saying, "It seems like there's someone on the other side who's looking at us, I wonder who it is." Guess who that was? It was the coach, (Viktor) Bondarenko, ha, ha, ha!
Ha, ha, ha, oh no!
Mind you, we were playing the following day. The next morning, the coach called a meeting. During that meeting, it was said that "The Bull" (Cibi), "Ace" and Naughty were smoking dagga outside the previous night. Man, I fought! I said, "No, no, no, I was just there. Yes, they were smoking, but I was not. I don't smoke intsango mina, bengibakhaphile (dagga, I was just accompanying them) as brothers." I remember we were going to play Tembisa Classic that day, and Cibi did not play. Bondarenko told him, "You're not going to play today! It's hot, so you will be weak." Ha, ha, ha. But strangely enough, he let the others play.
Hmmm. Looks like the smoking of marijuana was a common practice among players in those days because we've heard a lot of such stories on this page. So, there were no random drug tests in the PSL back then like we're seeing today?
Hayi bezingekho (No, there was no such), until later…
Tell us more about Bondas.
He was a nice coach, you know. Very funny to be around, ha, ha, ha. He would sometimes come to training on a Monday and say he had the flu. He would tell us, "Don't come next to me! Don't come next to me! Stay there!" Then he would stand quite far from the rest of us, only to find that he was smelling of vodka. He didn't want us to know that he had been heavily drinking the previous night, ha, ha, ha. He was really funny. But I enjoyed playing under him because he could understand me and he knew that this one is my superstar. Nami bengazi ukuthi hayi ngimnandi la, akunanto eziningi (Even I knew that I was sorted with him around, and there were no problems). We played good football under him during that time.
Then there's the issue of muti…
Nah, isigalagala isigalagala (muti is muti), like in any team. All the teams were using muti, remember. Even now, all the teams are using muti. That's why when people are talking about muti, this one did that… sometimes I don't even like to talk about those things, wena Lunga. Even if I'm not there, I don't play football anymore, but I don't like to talk about all those things. When we were using those things, we were using those things saying it was between us. It was a team culture, and no one must take all those things outside, you understand? And I'm still maintaining that all the time. I hear so many players talking about those things, they were doing this and that, jumping. We were doing all those things, but I always keep that to myself.
Sure, but since we know you guys were using it, was it working?
Hey, ndoda (man)! Angithi, ukhe wabona (Look, what happened is that), when you played, you never knew whether on one occasion it did work and on another it didn't work. You would win a game and then say, "This thing is working, bafethu (guys). Did you see what happened?" There was one time, I don't remember who we were playing against but I think it was Ajax Cape Town (now Cape Town Spurs). Which team did Carlo Scott play for in Cape Town, was it Santos or Ajax?
Well, he actually played for both, but it's at Ajax where he made more of a name for himself.
Yes, so it was Ajax. The game took place here at Rand Stadium. One of their strikers, whom I forgot now, was one-on-one with Wendell Robinson in the last minute of the game. He dribbled past Robinson and as he was about to kick the ball into the net, he instead kicked the ground and the ball went out of play. After the game, we were laughing about it as players and said to each other, "Hey nibonile madoda ukuthi kunzima kanjani! Lento yalomuntu yiyo le, iyasebenza (guys, you saw how tough it is out there. It's because of this muti man's stuff, it's working)." But it was all in the mind, ha, ha, ha. We would be made to bath and vomit and do all sorts of stuff, then after all of that we would lose 1-0. It was just a mind game, like I said.
Those muti men must have made a killing out of football because club bosses really seemed to believe in their services.
Namanje (Even now), they are still chowing money angithi!
You then moved to SuperSport United. What was the experience of playing for them like?
It was nice nakhona (there as well), I had fun with those Matsatsantsa from Pretoria. Remember it was Pitso Mosimane who was coach there.
What was the difference between SuperSport and Swallows?
Remember Swallows is a cultured team, an old team, a big team here in South Africa. Moving away, going to SuperSport when they said they wanted me, I agreed under one condition that you know what, I've been at Swallows for a long time now, I know everything, all the corners, and I think I need new challenges. Remember I was more matured now, as I was 29, and I decided that you know what, let me go and see life outside, what's happening out there. That's how I agreed to go to SuperSport. When I got there, I realised that they were very professional. They differed a little bit from Swallows. Now we were starting to chase trophies and what-what, and I realised I'm now in a real professional set-up.
You mean even the money was better?
Yes, yes, yes, it was better. That's why I'm saying that's where I saw that my life was going to change a little bit from what it was.
Working under coach Pitso must have been something else.
He was always like this. I worked with him for quite a long time and he is a good coach. People don't know, they think he's hyped up for nothing. He's passionate about the game and he knows how to coach a player. Remember when we went to SuperSport… mina (me), Patrick Mayo… he was not coaching us. Pitso will tell you even now that some players you can't coach, you know. They are there as senior players to help you as a coach with these youngsters. He was not coaching me, Pitso. I was a leader and I used to see him coaching our youngsters, the likes of (Siboniso) "Pa" Gaxa, Thando Mngomeni, Cavaan Sibeko, Seuntjie Motlhajwa, and he knew how to coach them. I remember we came second in the league for two years and played CAF Champions League, where we even reached the group stage.
Sure.
My roommate was Peter Khoabane. He was the loudest! He used to talk too much. We used to play cards in camp at SuperSport, which would lead to us sleeping late. It was nice because we were playing the cards with Pitso and the late Thomas Madigage. Can you believe the team spirit we were creating, because cards have their own language. We used to take that language to the field of play, and the opposition wouldn't know what we were talking about, ha, ha, ha.
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.
