What are the facts?

‘ Rama G’ is not the first player to have been gagged or sidelined at City over a contractual dispute. There have been others, among them Cole Alexander, Roggert Nyundu, Thobani Mncwango and, more recently, goalkeeper Harold Ndlovu. Three years ago, Alexander, now at Bidvest Wits, said he had no interest in renewing his contract with Rise and Shine as he seemed to look for greener pastures. Chairman Mogaladi reportedly blocked a moved to SuperSport United during the January transfer window in 2016. The player was initially left in the stands, though Kosta Papic landed up playing him, unlike Ramagalela at the moment. Alexander was still frustrated at how he was denied a lucrative move only to be allowed to leave a free agent at the end of the campaign.

Nyundu is remembered for shocking the football fraternity by revealing – in June 2015 – that he earned a paltry R5 000 at City, which the club expected to be enough for him to feed his unemployed wife and two kids. He was subsequently sent on loan to Leopards, where he scored an incredible 18 goals in 17 matches and raised his profile. Nyundu signed a long-term deal with Lidoda Duvha only for his old club to insist he was still their player. A case that is a carbon copy of the Ramagalela saga is that of Mncwango, also now currently a Wits player. Mncwango revealed in an interview with Soccer Laduma in February 2017 that Pirates had made contact with him, though the move never mater- ialised. Unimpressed by his comments, the club said it was suspending the player for insubordination – a decision that did not go down well with then coach, Luc Eymael. Another player who could be facing a lengthy spell out in the cold is goalkeeper Ndlovu. He hasn’t played a single game for City in 2019 but was the club’s second choice behind George Chigova in the first half of the season. The player told the Siya crew last week that he had asked the South African Players’ Union (SAFPU) to take his case to the PSL Dispute Resolution Chamber. He wants to terminate his contract for sporting just cause given his lack of game time as well as being underpaid.