TT STUCK IN BOTS
Two weeks after all South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) teams returned to training, Thatayaone ‘TT’ Ditlhokwe remains stranded in Botswana, desperate to rejoin his Supersport United teammates.
The 22-year-old defender, who signed with the three-time South African champions last December, returned to the land of his birth in March when coronavirus bought the world to a standstill.
Four months later and Ditlhokwe - with Botswana’s border’s remaining firmly closed - has been left in limbo.
To add to the talented baller’s frustrations, the PSL is set to resume imminently, with the league targeting a return to action in early August. He looks doomed to miss the restart.
Despite what must be a challenging time for the youngster, Ditlhokwe displayed impressive maturity when Voice Sport contacted him for a comment this week.
“I am waiting for my ticket to return to my club and start working hard. However, I have been training on my own since the inception of lockdown,” explained the former Township Rollers favourite, showing the same level-headed composure that saw him handed the captain’s armband the last time the national team took to the field - a 1-0 loss to defending African champions, Algeria, in an AFCON qualifier back in November.
Meanwhile, Khalid Niyonzima, the goalkeeper coach at Dithokwe’s old club, Gaborone United, and a close associate of the player, told Voice Sport that Supersport are aware of and sympathetic to the youngster’s predicament.
“We spoke to the coach, Kaitano Tembo, recently and he understands the situation as the borders must open first so that the player smoothly returns to his teammates,” he said, adding Supersport have filed a special request with the South African government to grant Dithokwe safe passage to return.
“The club assured us that they are still waiting for the response from the government to allow TT to pass through the closed border,” concluded Niyonzima.