Big spenders
young player to protect himself.
When Orlando Pirates midfielder Vincent Pule was asked how he’s staying grounded now that a bright Soweto spotlight is targeted on him, he said: “Speaking to the coaches helps. They are the ones encouraging us to be focused, to live well. Just to focus on the game and sacrifice more time to looking at your games, focusing on your recoveries.
“For me, as a soccer player, you have to live well, eat the right food, train hard and that’s what I’m doing at the moment.”
One need only look at the fleet of BMWs and luxury VWs parked at his side’s Rand Stadium training base to understand the temptation players must feel to spend money and spend it fast. Some pearl-white Golf Rs (minimum R700 000 for base range) with custom thin-spoked wheels and panoramic roofs are particularly sexy.
Seasoned sense
Midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane has been around too long and seen too much to allow such trappings to turn him into a victim of the game.
“I’ve seen footballers retire and years later they’re struggling for money,” he says. “So I said: ‘I want to avoid the conversation we are having with young players right now.’ We want to change things as a generation.”
Yeye, as he is affectionately called, has plans he hopes will both safeguard his future and set the tone for those coming up under him. Having already completed a D (coaching) licence, SuperSport United’s 36-year-old plans to spend what he says will still be a few more seasons on the playing field, preparing for a possible venture into the dugout.
In the meantime, he and former Kaizer Chiefs teammate Siphiwe Tshabalala have big business plans — Shaye Lounge will open in Dobsonville, Soweto, at the end of next month.
“We tend to think it won’t come to me … until it does happen. So it’s important that we learn from other people’s experiences. You need to work hard to stay where you are and have a comfortable life.”
Creating wealth
The South African Football Players Union (Safpu) has historically been considered an impotent organisation. Under new leadership in the past year, however, a consensus has started to form that their efforts may be able to effect change after all. At the beginning of this season, for instance, it scared Bloemfontein Celtic into moral action as their players were taken to the verge of a strike.
Its president, Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe, believes structural support is a key pillar for propping up longevity and he has built his vision for his four-year term around the concept.
“Our issue is to see how we change the narrative of South African football players,” he says. “They say those that retire into poverty are always making wrong decisions. But it’s not that they have the money ... it’s only for that period because we are unable to create wealth. Until we are we won’t say that we have achieved our goal.”
Gaoshubelwe says Safpu has spent the past year talking to various institutions, from treasury and government to other sporting federations and the South African Football Association, about how to cater better for those they represent. Among other adjustments, the union wants taxes that are suited to a short career, retirement funds and claims to be very close to negotiating a minimum wage for local players. The current demand is R18 000 a month for those in the National First Division and R35000 for PSL players.
For now, however, we still have to sit in hope that the Letsholonyanes, those who are carving out their own future, are proving a stronger influence than the Chabangus on those players who are still rising up.
“My best advice that I can give to youngsters looking to get into the profession is to realise that the clubs don’t owe you anything,” Booth warns. “They are businessmen and once you’re done as an asset or commodity they’re not going to care about you. So you’re on your own.”