Ke Yona snub Gauteng players

Following months of hard work and travelling the country in search for talented youngsters to be part of the 2018 Nedbank Ke Yona team that will take on Nedbank Cup winners Free State Stars on September 9, it was rather shocking to see no player from Gauteng in the 16-man squad.

Over the past few years, the City of Gold has managed to produce more than five players for the Ke Yona team, but the 2018 edition team chosen by former Bafana Bafana head coach Shakes Mashaba and Khabo Zondo, along with their assistant coaches, did not have the services of any of the Gauteng players.

Speaking at the squad announcement at the Nedbank headquarters in Sandton on Wednesday night, Mashaba revealed that Gauteng players were in the selection process and boot-camps, but due to other commitments, they faded away.

“Sometimes when we go to these regions you find out that there is something going on that deprives us of the opportunity of getting the best players. But there is nothing much we can do about it because when the provinces have tournaments, those players need to represent their provinces,” Mashaba explained.

“Yesterday, today and tomorrow will never be the same. Last year we had players from here (Gauteng) but it is not guaranteed that when we have them this year, we will have them again next year. It depends on the development of the province. That is the most important thing in dealing with these youngsters.

“We had players from Gauteng when we started, but as we went on the players started to fade away.”

This year’s team has six players from the Eastern Cape and Mashaba added that the players who were selected deserved to be in the team.