Fortune Makaringe
Fortunate enough to be making a living from what he loves doing, Maritzburg United midfielder Matlhari Fortune Makaringe could have easily found himself in a classroom instead of on a football pitch, had his current club not come knocking four years ago.
The talented footballer could have easily replaced his togs with chalk and a duster, as he describes his journey from the classroom to the PSL.
Fortune Makaringe is not your typical footballer who has only ever known football as his only option in life, as is the case for a number of his colleagues. The Maritzburg United midfielder could have been making use of chalk and a dust board as a Mathematics and Geography teacher instead of dribbling opponents on the field, had he chosen to complete his studies. Makaringe had been a fourth-year Bachelor of Education student at the University of Johannesburg when the Team of Choice came calling for his services in January 2015. At that time, he was due to start his school experience as part of his Methodology course which lays the path to completing a teaching degree, and had already been placed at Buhle Park Secondary School in Germiston. The trouble was that all the while he sat in class at UJ pursuing his studies, he had kept his dreams of becoming a professional footballer in his back pocket and when the two paths crossed, he had to make a decision – a difficult one at that, as it meant sacrificing one of the two. Football was the winner in the end as he went with his heart. “In your fourth year you need to do your school experience for two months, but I didn’t do it which is why I didn’t qualify for my Methodology course,” the 25-year-old says. “I couldn’t get my qualification in the end. If I had completed my studies it would have meant foregoing the opportunity to join Maritzburg.” Despite being so close to completion, Makaringe knows his studies will have to be put on ice for a while. “To complete my studies, I will need to go and register for a year because Methodology is a year-long course and is not just semester based,” he explains. “The main thing with Methodology is that you must do the two-month school practical. That is where the trick was and that is where I was caught out. It was obvious that in relocating to Pietermaritzburg, I wouldn’t be able to complete my studies. Most guys I was at varsity with understood my decision because they knew I went with my heart. They knew how much I loved football.” Makaringe knew if he decided against Maritzburg’s offer, there was no guarantee there would be another. To guide his decision-making, the studious footballer consulted his parents as well as his coaches at Maritzburg at that time: Steve Komphela and Mandla Ncikazi, who are both teachers by profession. “At times we ask for things from God, but don’t get them at that requested time,” he says. “Things then tend to happen at a time when you least expect them, yet this is all God’s plans for you. Truth be told, at that point I had wanted to continue with my studies just like my mom said I should, but then my dad asked me what I have always wanted to do in my life. Without hesitation, I said ‘to play football’. My dad then said, ‘ Why are you then throwing away the chance to play professional football?’ “My dad reminded me that after having gone on trial to so many clubs, I should be grateful that this opportunity had arrived. He told me I shouldn’t turn down the opportunity just because it came when I least expected it. So I took my dad’s advice and combined it with what Steve and Mandla also told me, seeing as they are also teachers themselves, but were in football instead of the classroom.” While the completion of his teaching degree will continue to be on hold for as long as he remains in football, what is without doubt is the joy and satisfaction he has given his parents back home in Vosloorus while breaking stereotypes related to footballers being uneducated. Makaringe’s father Elliot works for the SAPS and played football himself, rubbing shoulders with Moroka Swallows legend Andries “Chaka Chaka” Mpondo when he went there for trials, and used to coach amateur club Juventus. “The influence of my parents was always crucial,” he notes. “My dad – who was my coach at my first club Juventus – always insisted I study and only then play football, while my mom just wanted me to stick with my books. Since I never went to
crèche, my mom was also my first teacher as well. She used to spank me when I didn’t write properly while in the afternoon my dad would also smack me if I didn’t control the ball well at training. So I always had balance from my parents because there was one who wanted school and the other who was fine with football. But both are happy for me now.”
Closed doors
Makaringe knows the true meaning of perseverance in this game, with his list of previous clubs reading Juventus, TLC, Homesweepers, Boksburg FC, Moroka Swallows development and Golden Boys, all of which are amateur sides, before then featuring for the Swallows MDC team and then Maritzburg United. Yet in between all that, there have been multiple heartbreaks and struggles as the talented youth chased his football dream, with his tenacity keeping him going.
“I remember b on November b 30, 2003 I got lost as a 10-year-old kid on my way back home from Orlando Pirates trials in Mayfair,” he recalls. “My dad thought I had gone with my friends, but I was alone. Luckily I knew his phone number by heart and so I called him and he eventually found me at around 10pm. I could have easily been lost that night. Then I went to Swallows Under-13 trials, but I was turned down because they said kids from Vosloo don’t listen. Strangely a year later Swallows scouted me while at Boksburg, and had forgotten they turned me down the previous year. “I went to Benoni Premier United in Daveyton, but stopped after two months because it was far from home. Then I went to Platinum Stars when I was 17, but they didn’t take me. Tuks was next, but again it was bad news, as well as Wits via Nike trials, but I couldn’t get in. I also trained with Jomo Cosmos, but while there Swallows asked me to come and play in the MDC and I gave bab’ Sono [Jomo Sono] the excuse that I was wanted at school. The next time bab’ Sono saw me I was at Maritzburg, but I’m grateful to him for giving me transport money and encouraging me to go to school while I trained with his club. All these disappointing experiences encouraged me to pursue my studies.” Even his time at Swallows was not a bed of roses, though it was during his three-match spell playing in the MDC for the Dube Birds that he was spotted by Maritzburg during the 2014/15 season. “I had played in the Swallows development while in high school until my first year in varsity, but then left when I realised they didn’t want to promote me,” Makaringe says. “That is when I went to Golden Boys – a team based in my neighbourhood who played in the Super League and then won promotion to the SAB League. I played there while at UJ, but was then asked by Swallows to come and help their MDC team where I played three games. Maritzburg saw me in one of those games when we played against them.”
Slow start
Upon his arrival at Maritzburg the midfielder didn’t see any first team action through his first six months at the club when Steve Komphela was in charge, only then getting to make eight appearances the next season [2015/16]. The following campaign his contribution moved up to 11 games before featuring in 36 games last term which resulted in a
call up to the national team for the Cosafa Castle Cup mid-year, as he continues to be a regular for the KwaZulu-Natal club. “I’m happy with my progress because it shows just how much patience pays in the game,” he says. “It was never easy for me considering, just how many clubs I went on trial to since I was a kid, but I kept on persevering. I was turned down so many times. At Maritzburg it was never easy waiting for so long for my chance, going in and out of the team without knowing what I did wrong. I was patient through all these experiences which made me ready.” Though Makaringe worked under Fadlu Davids for the past two years before Muhsin Ertugral’s arrival, what is rather fascinating is that through his first two years he experienced five changes in the man he referred to as “coach”, seeing Komphela, Ncikazi, Clive Barker, Ernst Middendorp and Roger de Sa come and go. The player insists each coach has played a role in making him the player he is today.
“When I arrived here I was a typical winger who just enjoyed dribbling, but with Steve you run and work for the team,” he says. “Luckily, I have never been a lazy player like some talented players from the township, so I managed to get into Steve’s demands for hard work. Coach Mandla is the one who scouted me. With Barker, he just loved tiki-taka football and always encouraged us to work on our strengths like dribbling, but unfortunately results were not forthcoming under him. Then came Middendorp who is a straightforward coach who instils discipline and doesn’t like funny things. For me as a township boy who was taught not to be ‘all dribble, no results’, I could adapt to different styles. To make me adapt, Middendorp played me at right-back and my willingness to learn helped me because I never had a bad attitude. I believe that as a player you must know how to play in all positions. Middendorp opened me up to being a player who has an awareness of what is needed in any area on the field.”
Middendorp’s nurturing thus put Makaringe in good stead by the time De Sa stood in the Maritzburg dugout. “Roger came when Middendorp had already drilled me and by then all I was waiting for was a chance,” he continues. “Roger then gave me the chance because I was prepared by then. Maybe had l been thrown into the fray earlier I could have messed up because I wouldn’t have been properly prepared, so credit to Middendorp! Luckily Fadlu was part of all this process and always pushed me, even though at times I felt like taking things personally when not given a chance to play. As players when a coach doesn’t play you, the first thing in your mind is that he doesn’t like you, yet you are being prepared. Even Maahier Davids who coached me in MDC gave me confidence,” says Makaringe, who is aware of the growth in expectation on his shoulders this term as well. “Whatever I do should be for the benefit of the team because the team is more important.”