Themba Zwane

The incredible story of how Zwane joined Mamelodi Sundowns as former Brazilians star Alex Bapela put his job, and his reputation, on the line for him.

Former Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Alex Bapela was brave enough to directly call club president Patrice Motsepe when he discovered Themba Zwane playing amateur football in Tembisa. Fast forward a decade and he has been proven right, with Zwane having now established himself at Chloorkop. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo finds out how Sundowns paid the equivalent of R1-million for an amateur player.

Mamelodi Sundowns’ decision to sign Themba ‘Mshishi’ Zwane almost a decade ago was greeted with suspicion by those that felt there was no justification in the club bringing an amateur footballer.

Zwane was snapped from third-tier Vardos FC and arrived on the same day as Teko Modise, who had joined from Orlando Pirates in January 2011.

Then 21, Zwane was scrawny looking and appeared rather stunned that he was now about to share the same dressing room as World Cup stars Modise, Katlego Mphela and Surprise Moriri.

What made his situation even more awkward was that he was due to compete with Modise for a place in the team. And so, during his first six months he didn’t play under coaches Antonio Lopez Habas and Ian Gorowa.

Even after being handed his debut by Johan Neeskens, he would manage a single goal in 27 appearances spread over two years, after which he was then loaned out to Mpumalanga Black Aces for a season.

With Sundowns spending on many players, it was felt by some that Zwane was another of those unwarranted signings that the club had made an unhealthy habit of bringing on board. Not for Alex ‘Barnes’ Bapela, though.

“I took that boy from Tembisa straight

“EVEN WHEN PITSO [MOSIMANE] CAME HE INITIALLY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THE KIND OF FOOTBALL THAT MSHISHI WAS PLAYING.”

to the first team at Sundowns and that tells you about his potential,” Bapela recalls.

He continues: “After I saw him playing the first time, I followed him around while doing my research on him. While playing for Vardos he was also still in school at Tembisa High. Then during the Philly’s Games, he played for AmaBEE. By the time I went to [ Vardos owner] Sinky Mnisi, I was already convinced that this boy must play for Sundowns.”

‘If you are not serious, I will fire you?’

Bapela had played for Sundowns and his time spent at the club working in the technical team had also made him wiser to understanding what defined the kind of player the club needed.

“I jumped past Trott [Moloto], [Alex] Shakoane and all the coaches, and went straight to the club president Patrice Motsepe. I called Patrice and his first response was, ‘do you honestly

think that he can play for Sundowns?’, in that intimidating voice of his.

“When dealing directly with the president you must know that your story is straight and solid, and not some wishy-washy tale because he will show you the door. Motsepe repeated and asked again, ‘are you serious, because if you are not, I will fire you’. But I knew that this boy will play,” remembers Bapela.

It wouldn’t have been easy for Zwane, but he made a statement on his first day at training.

“The trouble was that when he came, he was still an amateur and I remember the coach at the time kept on saying, ‘this boy is chasing the ball everywhere on the pitch’.

“That time Mshishi had incredible energy in him. He was following the ball everywhere. Even when Pitso [Mosimane] came he initially didn’t understand the kind of football that Mshishi was playing and that was when he was loaned to Black Aces. Look at what has since happened. He is still a star up to this day and will continue that way for 10 years,” explains the former Sundowns midfield grafter.

The deal that took Zwane to Sundowns was a life changing one for the attacking midfielder, who grew up in poverty in Tembisa and Ivory Park.

“The money that Sundowns paid to buy Mshishi got Sinky frightened a bit. I mean, he also got an Iveco bus as part of the deal. I am not sure he had ever sold a player for that much before.

“Mshishi is from a poor family so he had confidence issues playing with other boys who wore the best boots, yet he didn’t have a pair. If Mshishi had not succeeded at the club I would have been fired at Sundowns because the club paid a lot of money for an amateur player.

“It was R800,000 plus an Iveco minibus for an amateur player who couldn’t play properly in boots at the time. Boots were heavy for him. I think the boy even once stayed in a shack in Ivory Park, but when he went to Sundowns his father was literally crying from joy that his son would be earning R30,000 [per month].

“I think the signing on fee was R300,000, so imagine the tears on his father’s face,” reveals Bapela.

Tembisa connection

As is normal with kids growing up in the township, he showed interest in the game, developing his freedom on the streets where you have to show that you can operate in conditions akin to playing inside a washing machine.

“I know the boy’s late mother because we all grew up in the same neighbourhood. His mother and father were neighbours on the same street here in Tembisa, so I knew Mshishi as a naughty little kid before he even started primary school,” recalls yesteryear star Jerry Sikhosana, who was born and bred in Tembisa.

From seeing Zwane as a toddler and then working with him in his teens as his coach at M Tigers, Sikhosana is honest.

“Now that he has made it big, I cannot claim that I always knew he would make it. From my earliest days of seeing him he wasn’t so much into football. The truth is that I was still playing so I couldn’t keep my eye on him and my son, who he was close friends with, until someone invited me to one of the local teams that I also grew up in Tembisa Santos.

“He was one of those boys that were just playing. All kids in the township play football and back then I never saw anything to suggest that he would end up becoming what he is now.

“It was only when I met him again at M Tigers that I began to realise there was something in him. What happened is that after the passing away of his mom, I think his father took him from Tembisa to his relatives in Ivory Park, where he grew up.

“At M Tigers I coached him when he was surrounded by quality players but there was something special and he was there with my son as the terrible twins. The boys were close friends while my son also played football, but eventually did not continue for cultural reasons.

“Mshishi saw me as a father figure because whenever he came around, he would be with my son and I treated him like my son,” recollects the Orlando Pirates legend.

Now a player who is riveting when in possession, Zwane has learnt to be relentless when without the ball as demonstrated by the distance that he always covers in every game he plays.

Mosimane appears to have implemented a system of pressing high to recover the ball as quick as possible once they have lost it, which means players such as Zwane are putting in extra effort off the ball as well.

Yet, according to Sikhosana, he wasn’t a player that won everyone’s hearts, amongst them ex-Witbank Aces, Sundowns and Classic midfielder Sello ‘Page’ Mahlangu at M Tigers.

“I have had a big role to play because when we were preparing for the Play-Offs after having won the Gauteng stream. Page Mahlangu, who I coached with,

“BACK THEN I NEVER SAW ANYTHING TO SUGGEST THAT HE WOULD END UP BECOMING WHAT HE IS NOW.”

was not fond of Mshishi.

“He wanted him to stay on the right [wing], but because of his energy he would be all over the field since he wanted to get the ball and play. I even told Page that you cannot tell me that the boy is like a butterfly who, when the wind blows to the left, he goes in that direction, and same happens when the wind blows to the right.

“I told him [Mahlangu] that the boy is energetic and wants to play, so we had that misunderstanding about the Zwane. I made it known to Page that I am sticking with the boy and he needs to be played behind the number 10,” says Sikhosana.

Pirates loss, Sundowns gain

At M Tigers, Zwane played with Thabo Matlaba, Punch Masenamela, Gift Sithole, Tintswalo Tshabalala, Strydom Wambi and Lebogang Manyama’s older brother Thabiso.

Anyone who has ever spoken to Mnisi, who is now a director at Highlands Park, would know about his passion for the game.

“When he was brought to us it took me a mere 15 minutes to be convinced that this is a player destined for greatness, even though he was way too skinny at the time,” Mnisi says.

“He was brought to us by a guy who is related to him. I signed him right away and I used to fetch him from Tembisa High. Mshishi played for me at Classic, along with Mdu [Mthokozisi Yende] when we were playing in Limpopo province league. He was 15 at the time but played in the first team in the Vodacom League.”

Mnisi reveals that it wasn’t only Sundowns that were keen on Zwane, but Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs, Moroka Swallows and Jomo Cosmos were all in that queue.

“I actually spoke to Pirates but by then there was a war because one agent who taking chances was claiming that Mshishi is his player. Barnes Bapela went as far as coming to my house and I opted for Sundowns because I wanted to cover the expenses of running my team.

“I reported to their offices the Monday after meeting Barnes. Motsepe was overseas when we were doing the deal, but we spoke with him on the phone and all was agreed. What I got for the boy and what he got as his salary compared to where he was coming from was just out of this world. Sundowns changed my life and that of that boy. I never looked back in football since that day,” says Mnisi.

At Vardos, Zwane was coached by Klaas Khanye for two years.

Khanye remembers a player who ran with a limp, so much so it was constantly suspected he was injured. He feels Zwane should finally walk away with the Footballer of the Season this term.

“We took him and tried to nurture his talent because we saw the kind of special player that he was. Coaching him was nothing difficult because we could already see the talent that he had, and he was willing to listen.

“You would suspect that he has an injury if you see him running, which is why we were always asking him about it! But this is how he is naturally. As a coach I already knew that he would go far.

“In the tournaments when he played for AmaBEE, you could see that he was

“MOVING TO SUNDOWNS WAS A BLESSING BECAUSE HE WOULD RECEIVE BETTER COACHING THAN WHAT WE WERE OFFERING HIM.”

someone special and the kind of player that reminded me of Jabu Pule [Mahlangu]. It was just for us to guide him in the right direction.

“Moving to Sundowns was a blessing because he would receive better coaching than what we were offering him.

“He never went astray from what we contributed towards his development because Sundowns surely made him a better player. Working with Pitso Mosimane means you are working with the best coach.

“He is a guy who never shies away from putting in the effort in his game and I remember even when he was already at Sundowns, he would still come to Esselen Park and train with us before they opened at Chloorkop.

“He would still take tips from us without hesitation in following his programme. I think he deserves to be rewarded for what he has put into his game over the last two years,” says Khanye.