Where are they now?
Thabo Rammile says he’s found inner peace
“IN THOSE DAYS I WOULD SPEND R5 000 ON FOOD OVER A WEEKEND, NOWADAYS I BUDGET FOR R100.”
It took Thabiso Rammile just five matches in the Premier Soccer League to catch the eye of then national team coach Stuart Baxter and win a cap for South Africa, but his rapid rise to stardom was followed by an equally swift fall. Rammile joined Mamelodi Sundowns from third-tier Maritzburg City at the beginning of the 2004/05 season and the 20-yearold was an instant hit, lining up alongside the likes of Benni McCarthy, Sibusiso Zuma, Hans Vonk, MacBeth Sibaya, Delron Buckley, Quinton Fortune, Aaron Mokoena and Steven Pienaar for an international against Uganda. But the trappings of success would be hard for him to contain and distractions off the pitch would ultimately lead to his undoing. “I had a flying start to my career in the PSL and maybe that contributed to me eventually having a career that didn’t last so long due to the lifestyle that then followed,” Rammile says. “Footballers are human beings and as a kid from the township it was difficult to understand all these sudden changes.” Rammile won six caps in all, but within two years his Sundowns career was over. “I enjoyed it all when Paul Dolezar was coach, but the moment he left halfway through the season [to be replaced by Angel Cappa] it became difficult. I was not used to not playing, and I got frustrated. The next thing I was hanging with the wrong crew. “The only consolation was that while I wasn’t a regular at Sundowns anymore, I was still being called up by Baxter, who had belief in me. “Neil Tovey pushed me out at Sundowns because he made it known that he preferred a more experienced guy in David Kannemeyer. But he also wanted to save his job.” After a loan move to Bloemfontein Celtic, he returned to Chloorkop briefly before moving to Thanda Royal Zulu, where his career eventually came to an ugly end in 2009 as he failed to accept a salary cut following the club’s relegation to the National First Division. “Thanda was okay because I played regularly in the season we were relegated, but then the trouble started when they wanted to cut my salary when there was never any clause in my contract that stipulated money would be reduced if the team went down. I left the game depressed and frustrated,” says Rammile. Now 33, had things turned out differently he could still be play- ing, but instead he is coach of SAB League club Arcadia United in Ikageng, Potchefstroom. He says the reasons for cutting his career short are varied, but that he lives without regret. “People still ask me what happened, but l cannot question that I retired early in my career. I have found peace and happiness in that I played in the PSL and for Bafana Bafana while others end their careers without achieving this. “I still have a knee that troubles me so that also affected me. I made mistakes, but I cannot be sorry and live with regret all my life. My weight problems contributed too as I was always chubby, ever since I was a kid.” He says his life now consists of coaching and trying to make a life for his three children. Long gone are the days of splurging cash on luxury items. “When I was playing I built a house for my parents, who have now since both passed away. We stay in that house with my siblings and my family. Life is not the best, but I have to be positive. “Back then I would blow up to R2 000 on booze over a weekend, but nowadays when I get that kind of money I budget it down to the last cent because I have three kids to look after. “In those days I would spend R5 000 on food over a weekend, nowadays I budget for R100. “I always tell the young boys that I coach that football can be unforgiving and you must take care of every cent you make from the game.”