Mafu reflects on first Botswana season
AFTER getting the opportunity to coach one of Botswana’s top sides Mochudi Centre Chiefs, former Highlanders coach, Bongani Mafu took the chance with both hands as he sought a second dance at a top level side.
Chiefs had won the championship the previous year and retained the status of being one Botswana’s top teams that has an illustrious history having over the past decade been competing for dominance against Township Rollers.
While not expecting a stroll in the park, Mafu did not expect he would have to deal with a weekly occurrence of player revolt, neither did he realise he would have to dig deep into his motivational skills to ensure the team fulfils matches.
What Mafu was not aware of was that at the beginning of the year, shareholder, Saeyd Jamali, who had been instrumental in funding the club pulledu out due to internal differences. A l t h ou g h a funder, Ernest Molome paid the team’s salaries, he pulled out in December leaving the club sinking in a sea of financial turbulence. “However, I am confident that in due course I will be paid what is due to me, ” he said, adding he had to dip into his savings to pull throughout the season. The former Zimbabwe Saints and Highlanders gaffer said finishing on seventh position, achieving the top eight target set for him, in the 16-team log was nothing short of a miracle as they had to contend with playing some games without training while in others players would arrive five minutes before kick off. He said he had to fortify his side during the midseason transfer window, a move that saw him notch five wins in a row in January but withdrawal of funding by Molome meant salaries dried up for players leading to a tumultuous period of strikes and boycotts by players. Mafu managed to convince players they had to keep their image intact through fulfilling fixtures.
Mafu revealed he last received some form of payment in January but he held on as he felt he had to complete a full season in charge at Premiership level. He said for him it was an “apprenticeship” kind of experience, something he needed as he seeks to conquer in the coaching world.
He said when he came back from England he was thrown to the deep end at Highlanders and naivety saw him working on a democratic basis, something he feels let him down during his tenure at the club.
“I came back from England after 18 years and without blinking or breathing I was chucked into Highlanders and to be honest at the time I was naïve and blind, I was working on democracy but I learnt that in African football you need to have your own brain and implement your own philosophy.
“I stayed in Botswana because I felt completing the season would mean when I left I would no longer be a greenhorn or naïve, again I felt being out of action would affect my coaching negatively,” said Mafu.
He said he believes Chiefs can turn the corner next season if they managed to hold on to most of the players and also find sponsorship for next season. However, five players are already on the radar of other teams and could be gone by the time the season kicks off.
With one year remaining on his contract, Mafu revealed he was open to fulfilling his contractual obligations and take charge of “Magosi” again next year.