A lion never changes from being a lion
Ah, well, it’s been a good one. I am happy that I chose to come here. The management showed a lot of faith in me when they approached me and from that first day I’ve felt that they had a lot of confidence in me and I couldn’t say no to this move.
CA: It took you roughly four months to get another winner’s medal around your neck after Cape Town City won the MTN8 by beating SuperSport United in the final on September 29. Seems like you brought in the good luck charm!
SM: (Laughs) Yeah, to be honest, for me it goes back to God and what He has been able to do not only for me but for the team. As a player and personally, it’s a feeling that I don’t know how I could explain to you. When we won the cup, we were feeling over the moon. There are people who put in the hard work behind (the scenes), you know. My family has been behind me with their prayers and I have met coaches here who are open-minded. A coach like Benni McCarthy, who believe in me and the team, helped us to get that trophy. It was a good feeling to win and give something to our supporters so early in the season. It is a great feeling, but I think there is more to come and we need to achieve more as a team.
Adecade ago, he was in the middle of a tug-of-war between two of the biggest teams in the country even before he touched a ball in professional football, and it was for this reason that many believed his career would have been laden with so much personal success by now. However, the unpredictable nature of the game has seen him moving between the two clubs without much to write home about, and going on to play for four different clubs after that. As a spiritual person, the burly striker believes fate is not to be tempted and that, beside
CA: Next Tuesday, you face AmaZulu in the Telkom Knockout Last 16 in Durban…
SM: Ja, it’s another chance, it’s another job that we have to get done. I think we have to forget about what has happened and start afresh because everyone is hungry for more. Every team wants to win something, and against AmaZulu we have to be on top of our game and we need to fight because we are playing away from home. We need to work hard as a team and believe in ourselves like we did with the MTN8 win.
CA: You are well-travelled and your football talent has taken you to Gauteng, Free State, then back home to KwaZulu-Natal and now the Western Cape…
SM: (Thinks) It hasn’t been easy. Remember that, as a kid I was just playing for fun, but I was dreaming about playing professionally, and then the next thing someone came and told me to go for trials at Maritzburg City. That’s when I started to see that there was life in football and I just had to take it seriously. Where I come from, in Melmoth, it’s better now with tournaments and stuff, but when I was growing up it was difficult. For me this has all happened through God’s grace and the faith, you know. You come from a background where you had nothing, where you are living from hand to mouth all the time and then next thing there is a light and a chance that you have to take with both hands. I was 14 years old when I had to go and leave my mum back at home. It was difficult, knowing that she didn’t work, but when I got to Maritzburg, everything changed.
I had to think and know that I had to be there to help my mum. I had to face a lot. I had school (on the) one side and I used some piece jobs to earn some money. I used to clean cars to earn some money. But I think the focus for me started there because I saw how football was taken seriously. CA: All of this at such a young age… SM: Yeah, but what can you do when you know that you have this talent and you need to start providing for your family? It was my vision that kept me going. My father, who passed away, was the breadwinner for our family and I wanted to change everything for us. My mother was looking after her late brothers’ and sisters’ children, so I also had to grow up quickly at that age and it worked because of the church. You know, we were programmed, and all of your strength comes from God, which I can tell you is the truth. All of that kept me going and I thought that if God can put me here, then He has a plan. He wouldn’t put me there knowing that I was going to fail. I made a decision to not disappoint Him and work extra hard. I think it was a learning curve for my future.
CA: These challenges must have toughened you up for whatever lay ahead in your chosen career path.
SM: Honestly, the only thing that kept me in that level of consciousness and to stay focused was to align myself with the Holy Spirit. When I’m on the field of play that’s where I worship God through my talent and when I face problems, I just embrace those challenges because I know that there is a plan for me and all I have to do is worship my Father and everything Full name: Siphelele Promise Mthembu
Date of birth: 15 August 1987
Place of birth: Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal
Nickname: Shaka Zulu Position: Striker
Jersey number: 25
Club: Cape Town City
Previous clubs: Maritzburg City, Orlando Pirates, that he is able to put food on the table while playing the game he fell in love with from childhood, he was predestined to be where he currently is. In this frank chat with Soccer Laduma’s Celine Abrahams, Shaka Zulu, as he is fondly known, reveals previously unknown truths that have had a bearing on his progress. Bloemfontein Celtic (on loan), Golden Arrows, Platinum Stars, Kaizer Chiefs, Free State Stars Honours: 2013/14 MTN8 winner, 2013/14 Telkom Knockout winner, else will be taken care of and fall into place. That’s how I tackle everything. If I can take you back to the time when I was in that situation you know with Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. I was still young and, as a kid, you always want to play for one of the big teams in the country; my goal was actually to play for Chiefs. But you never know what was happening up there. As much as my heart was there to go to Chiefs, at the same time I couldn’t compromise my family and what we were going through, so I had to choose. When I wanted to choose the team that I really wanted, it didn’t go the way I wanted and the matter even went to court. When it didn’t work out, I just said it’s okay, I’ll go there to Pirates if that’s the way it’s supposed to be. But, all in all, I think it was my first big challenge and a very difficult one. I really had to consider my family and forget about myself and what I wanted. If I had to think about myself at that time, then maybe I wouldn’t be where I am today. I was the one that had to make the breakthrough for us and that’s when I decided, ‘You know, what let me just take this opportunity and go to Pirates.’ But it was really difficult. CA: We can only imagine. SM: I learned from that. To be honest, Chiefs did man up because they spoke to my mum before the saga. They were honest. They spoke and my mum came to see me when I was at work and everything was fine. But I think it was one of those things that you say was a great challenge. Now I can help the next generation and say, “Hey, I was in that situation and this is what you should do.” I had to focus on my football and, at that time, spiritually I was still trying and I didn’t understand why some things were happening that way. It was very hard to be in that situation. When everything finally ended, I had to make that move to Pirates, which was big for me. When I first got there, I got a couple of goals in the first six months before the end of the season and in the second season… you know, I came from a team that was free to pass – whenever you are not in a good position, there was an option for another player. In that second season, I kept on doing that, you know. I started passing. I started to see something that I didn’t know before, where you go and look for the ball and it doesn’t come to you. You call for the ball and your teammate doesn’t cross, and you end up feeling stupid because it’s like you don’t understand the system there. I ended up saying, ‘You know what, let me ask for a loan move to (Bloemfontein) Celtic, to go there to redeem myself and be free.’ I went there, and I really enjoyed being there. The next thing, I had to go back to Pirates and only to go to Golden Arrows. There were issues there at Arrows where the coach wanted to play me, but there were things that I didn’t know. I think that was the season where I went through a lot. 2014/15 MTN8 winner, 2014/15 League winner (all with Kaizer Chiefs), 2017/18 Nedbank Cup winner (with Free State Stars), 2018/19 MTN8 winner (with Cape Town City)