Still in Touch With...

“He’s the one who stabbed me.”

Lanky defender Rodney Thobejane, who answered to the moniker ‘Danger’, began his playing career at Ria Stars in 1998, at a time when the club was campaigning in the First Division. He helped them to PSL promotion in the 1999/00 season. Then followed a big move to Kaizer Chiefs in 2001. By his own admission, he enjoyed the best of times at Dynamos, where he played until his injury-enforced retirement in 2008, before being handed a coaching role at the club.

It must have been exciting for you to join Ria Stars, but where did they get you from?

Ha, ha, ha, I guess it’s safe to say they ‘found’ me at Makhulong Stadium! We, a team of handpicked local players, played a curtain raiser against a side called Sea Rovers, just as Ria Stars were preparing to face City Sharks in a friendly game. They were impressed with how I marshalled the heart of our defence and pounced on the chance to sign me. Just as well, I was about to give up. Had they decided otherwise, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today, for I had been going to different teams on trial, without success. It was all promising, but not really to my liking, because to start with, I had to find my own means of transport to the training venue, because remember I had not been invited to those trials but came of my own volition. A friend of mine, George Silwane, took me to Jomo Cosmos and Jomo Sono said, “No, you can come to training, I don’t have a problem.” Unfortunately, I was still a “Johnnie Walker” then, if you know what I mean. Up next was the Orlando Pirates reserve side, coached by the late Ted Dumitru. He liked me, but it was nearing December and I had to wait for January to go back and finalise everything. Guess what? The team was involved in a car accident. When I called him, he said he was still waiting for the players to recover. I thought, ‘No, let me leave this, maybe it was not meant to be.’ I then went to Kaizer Chiefs and trained under the watchful eye of the late Jeff Butler. They, too, said I could come back but that they couldn’t transport me. That is when someone advised me to go to White House in Jo’burg, as that was where Chiefs used to pick up their players. I went there twice, but after realising I had no money to travel all the time, I decided to just forget about it. That was until the Ria Stars opportunity came.

Hmmm. How were your early days there?

Well, it’s not like these days. That time, when you were coming to a team and you were from another province, it was a challenge. It was similar to going from primary school to high school, where some boys will try to ruffle your feathers a bit. Even nowadays, I usually tell my players that they need to be mentally and psychologically strong if they want to go far, because I would not have turned pro if I had not been the same. There was a time bangihlaba

ngebhodlela (they stabbed me with a bottle), and I’m talking about my own teammates. That’s because they had that mentality that I was coming to take one of their own’s position. Phuti “Lollipop” Mohafe, who is currently the assistant coach at TTM FC, is the one who helped me and encouraged me, telling me, “Outhie yam (My brother), it’s football. Don’t go home. Just be strong. It will all come to pass and these guys will love you.” I worked very hard and even Sis Ria and his son Harry Ledwaba kept on encouraging me. I ended up enjoying myself in that team and even won the supporters’ hearts. Telle us aaboutout tthiss stastabbingng incident! nc ent Ha, ha, ha. Eish, I’m scared to talk about it because they will read it and think I’m exposing them. But, ag, I can tell you about it, it’s not a problem because it happened. It was after a game against Tembisa Classic. I was not staying with the other players, who resided at the clubhouse. Lollipop had asked me to visit him, so I decided to go and see him there. Upon my arrival, I found the guys drinking, but I was a teetotaller. Out of the blue, came a request for me to buy alcohol for them, and I swore on my late mother’s grave that that was not going to happen, and besides, being a newbie, I was as poor as a church mouse at the time. This one guy, our goalkeeper at the time, whose name I won’t mention, flipped his lid. He’s the one who stabbed me. They went out for a while and, when they came back, he found me sitting where he had been seated. He did not seem to appreciate that one bit, and before I knew it, he blurted, “He monna, bengi la, wena mangisuka uyahlala (I was seated here, and the minute I get up you decide to make yourself comfortable there).” Advocating for peace, I said simply, “Ja, no, sorry, outhie yam.” It was at this point he broke open a bottle and started stabbing me. I was trying to protect myself and that’s how he stabbed me in my hand. He must have been going for the heart! Lollipop grabbed him and said, “No, no, nono, my brother,roter don’tont doo this.”ts Afterter that, t at Lollipop put me in his room to relax and I left the following day.

Terrible.

The guys I was closest to are Sidney Moshikaro, Lucky Lekgwathi and Saul Molapo. Moshikaro was a quiet guy who didn’t talk much, but you would always laugh when in his company. He would ask you, “Did you see so-and-so doing this and that earlier on?” However, when everyone was around, he would just retreat into his shell. We still keep in touch. Even before you called me, I was on the phone with him and we were just chatting. Molapo was the opposite in that he talked non-stop. As for Lekgwathi, he didn’t like going out, just like me, and so we spent a lot of time indoors and he would advise me on a lot of things. He would tell me, “We’ve now been given this opportunity to become professional footballers. Let’s make the most of it.” We also communicated well during the game and, after games, he would come to my room and we would analyse the match from our perspective. Actually, he was a brother to me. I even used to go to his home in Soshanguve and his mother was always happy to see me.

You later left the team…

I went to Kaizer Chiefs in 2001. At the end of that season, I received a call from Ria and she said there was an enquiry about me. I asked her where the enquiry was coming from and she said it was from Chiefs. You know, when she called me, I had been coming back from Pirates’ offices, together with Frank Makua and Thapelo Liau. While I was there, the chairman (Dr Irvin Khoza) came in and said, “I have a problem.” I asked, “What’s the problem?” He replied, “No, man, I have a problem with one of you guys.” We were still wondering what he was on about, when he said, “There’s a defender from Ria Stars that is supposed to go to Chiefs.” I couldn’t make sense of his words. Innocent Chikoya, who was within earshot, said, “They say there’s a player from your team that must go to Chiefs, and three players have to go the other direction.” I was thinking, “Who’s this player?” Khoza then said, “Gents, you can go, I’ll see what I can do.” Immediately when I arrived back home, Ria called me and told me the whole story… and then I knew that player was me. I got the fright of my life because I wasn’t ready for such a big move yet! But I thought to myself that an opportunity like that comes once in a lifetime, so why couldn’t I grab it? I’d always dreamt of playing for this team when I was young and my family supports this team, so why not? Ria said, “Don’t be afraid, just go.” I said, “But I’ve just promoted this team. Why can’t I just stay one more season and then go the following season?” She answered, “No, I also need some players from there.” I think those players were Robson Muchichwa, Moshikaro (back on loan) and Makua. I said, “No, it’s fine. But don’t go out and say I left the team. Tell the supporters that you are the one who released me.” She said, “It’s not a problem, I’ll tell them.” The following day, Bobby Motaung came to my place and took me to Naturena…

Let’s hold it right there. Next week we’ll hear about your first day at Naturena Village, as well as funny stories about Jabu Pule (now Mahlangu), Cyril Nzama, Thabo Mooki and others. Ha, ha, ha, I can’t wait!