TWO SEASONS, THREE RELEGATIONS

In the colours of African Wanderers in the BobSave (below); featuring for both Soweto giants Chiefs and Pirates; and a forgetful spell at KZN side Zulu Royals. ALTHOUGH African Wanderers were relegated in their first season (1997/98) in the PSL, they introduced a trio of forwards – namely Phumlani ‘BMX’ Mkhize, Sibusiso ‘Rhee’ Zuma and Siyabonga ‘Bhele’ Nomvete – who all made moves to the Soweto giants straight after that campaign. Mkhize was Abaqulusi’s top scorer with 13 goals that season, while Nomvete netted 11 and Zuma scored 10. And while Nomvete and Zuma secured lucrative moves to Europe (via Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates respectively), Mkhize – who many rated as being the best of the trio – found himself stagnating after a few spectacular seasons at the Buccaneers. Mkhize was seen as the most likely of the trio to succeed, yet he only played once for Bafana Bafana. [Why he was overlooked beyond that is a mystery as he had scored 46 goals in 96 club starts at the time of his one and only cap.] In contrast, Nomvete and Zuma earned 82 and 67 caps respectively. Mkhize left Pirates for Chiefs in 2001, where he made just 20 appearances over two seasons, scoring just once. “I was unlucky in my career ... I think I also created some of the bad luck myself,” Mkhize says in retrospect. “I failed myself in comparison to Rhee and Bhele, but then I am still happy I played a supportive role in getting them to be as successful as they got to be. Not all of us would have careers that would pan out the same, and I don’t regret I never went overseas like them. “I was never the most disciplined player off the field. I got up to a lot of things that disturbed my career. I was never a guy who went to church … plus I had friends that weren’t footballers so that didn’t help.” Mkhize admits his career really went downhill the day he accidentally shot himself in the leg while cleaning his firearm at home in April 2003, while he was on the books of Chiefs. “I have absolutely no-one to blame. After a morning session I got home and just decided to take the gun from the safe – up to this day I am not sure what I was thinking. I tried to cock it in the way that guys on TV do it, then I decided to clean it ... but the next thing I had shot myself in my tendon. “The doctors said my tendon was damaged and advised me to to stop playing, but I decided that as a warrior I would fight on. I had an operation on my calf, but I was never the same afterwards. The truth is that I never fully recovered because my leg never stopped giving me problems,” he says. After Chiefs he had a brief spell with Hellenic – playing just one match during the season before moving to Zulu Royals (10 appearances, 3 goals) where he achieved a bizarre record of playing for both relegated clubs in one season. This was followed by Manning Rangers (12 games, 2 goals, and again relegated!), then a season in the Mvela

”I never fully recovered because my leg never stopped giving me problems.”