That day, I cried…

“Let me not be the one who speaks about those issues.”

“No one who doesn’t know me would have that kind of information.”

By his own admission, Edward Manqele has made mistakes in his career. However, the good thing is that he is now owning up to them. Having started out at Free State Stars in 2011, a lot was expected from the burly striker after he finished that season as the club’s scorer. More so because Mamelodi Sundowns came calling the following campaign. But things didn’t go according to plan for “Hlokoloza”, as he is fondly known, so much so that even a loan spell at Moroka Swallows didn’t

hear or read about. But some of us know what was happening behind the scenes. Yes, the team was struggling for results and as much as we were being blamed as the players for the results, some of the things that were happening behind closed doors might have been the cause. But like I say, let me not be the one who speaks about those issues because I’m someone who likes to avoid controversy. About being among high earners at the club, how I wish I could have been! But I know, you know that (the) NFD (GladAfrica help much. In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Masebe Qina, Manqele talks about his PSL Dispute Resolution Chamber case with Pretoria Callies, the club he last played for before his contract was terminated in January. After some initial hesitance, the 34-year-old also opens up about a personal issue that derailed his career – it’s an explosive tale of a love affair gone horribly wrong!

Masebe Qina: You’re currently at home, assessing your options, after your contract at Pretoria Callies was terminated in January. How do you feel?

Edward Manqele: (Sighs heavily) I feel good so far, and like you say, I’m at home and just relaxing. What I’ve learnt about football is that as a player, you should always expect the unexpected. I keep fit by playing with some of the former professional footballers as well as some of the local guys who like to play. Lucky Lekgwathi and Portia Modise are some of the former players that I sometimes play with. I’ve been able to gain some fitness and I’ve been in touch with my agent Odwa (Skuni) and he has assured me that there is definitely something that he’s working on for me, possibly for next season. He’s encouraging me to keep fit and has assured me that I’ll hear from him soon about the rest. We’ll see what will happen in the coming weeks.

MQ: The Siya crew reported that you’ve taken the club to the PSL’s Dispute Resolution Chamber.

EM: (Giggles) They didn’t keep their promise as per the contract that we entered into when I joined the club and, instead, they served me with a letter of termination. By the way, I’m not the only one in this situation as there are a few other players whose contracts have also been terminated. The way I understand things, if a club has a contract with a player, the club has to pay what is due to the player if his contract gets terminated along the way. Fights and arguments and things like that are things that I don’t want, but the club decided that they are not going to pay. I haven’t been paid my salary since December and the only players that were paid were those that were going back to the club for the second round of the season. I had a contract with the club and when they decided not to pay, I viewed it as (a) breach of contract and that’s how I decided to take the matter to the Players’ Union, who then took it to the PSL’s DRC.

MQ: What were you told about the termination of your contract?

EM: I think it was due to the club making changes to the coaching staff and, as you know, once a new coach arrives at a club, changes are bound to happen as some players are likely not to feature in his plans. That’s what happened, although in my meeting with the CEO (Ali Netshifhefhe), he didn’t mention anything about the coach not wanting me. But I accepted the club’s decision and there was no way I would have forced things to try and stay where my services were no longer needed. But when it was time to pay, it was another story.

MQ: When the news of a player exodus at the club broke, word was that the management felt that they were not getting any re- turn on investment on their big spending on experienced players such as you, Edmore Chirambadare and Thabo Moloi, among others, who were said to be the high earners.

EM: Look, Masebe, there were a lot of things going on, but I don’t think I should mention them here because I don’t want to cause trouble and I don’t want to be seen as a bad person. Obviously, the bosses will always say whatever they feel like saying about their club and they have every right to do so, and people will always believe what they want to

believe on what they Championship) is not like the PSL (DStv Premiership) and we can’t even compare salaries between the two leagues. I mean, there’s nothing to hide, PSL players get so much (in salaries) compared to NFD players and, for me, joining the club was about playing more than anything else. Of course, the little that I was getting was better than if I was sitting at home. Unfortunately, things ended the way they ended and that’s the way it is (sighs heavily).

MQ: On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate Callies compared to all your other previous clubs?

EM: (Thinks for a moment) I would give them a 5.

MQ: Well, from this rating, Soccer Laduma readers will have an idea of what you don’t want to tell them about the club’s ‘behind closed doors’ happenings. Moving on, talking about previous clubs, you’ve moved quite a lot since starting your pro career with a bang at Free State Stars…

EM: (Takes a deep breath) I can’t complain because I’ve made a name for myself. Playing in the PSL was one of my childhood dreams and I’m happy that I managed to make myself one of the recognised players in the country. I went on to play for one of the big clubs in the country in (Mamelodi) Sundowns, although things didn’t work out for me there. But as a player and as a person, you learn new things and that is what I benefited from with my move to Sundowns. One thing I’d like to say, which could also be a good message to the upcoming youngsters, is that the mistake that we sometimes make as footballers is that once we get into bigger things in our careers, we tend to fall into the trap of being in our comfort zone. What the youngsters should know is that at those big clubs, it’s a dogeat-dog (situation) and each and every one of the players there is there to work for his family. There, you are expected to perform week in and week out, and there are no two ways about it. To the youngsters, never be too comfortable when you join one of the big clubs in the PSL and you should always aim high. The only way to achieve that is by working harder and once you do that, opportunities like going overseas are likely to follow. If you look at international footballers like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and many others that I can mention, those guys work very hard despite all that they’ve achieved in their careers and there is a lot that we should learn from them as South Africans.

MQ: We’re listening.

EM: Even at (Kaizer) Chiefs, there is a lot that I learnt, despite not playing much at the club. Talking about Chiefs, there aren’t many people who know that I struggled with a bad injury at the club and it affected my progress in the team. I even told some of my friends that I had a terrible knee injury that was troubling me and, in the end, things didn’t work out well for me at the club and I had to move on. But I had a nice time at the club and I enjoyed my stay.

MQ: Were there any off-the-field issues that affected your progress at Sundowns and Chiefs respectively?

EM: There were issues that disturbed, but it was personal issues which I’m not sure I should disclose to you and your readers. It’s the issues that affected my concentration and later on my progress. I think I should end it there.

MQ: Were those issues about friends, partying and such?

EM: No, it wasn’t about friends and I’m not a person who likes partying. Whatever that I do, I do it indoors. For us, we are public figures and we can’t do things like everyone else. We have to hide and can’t enjoy ourselves in public. It’s always easy for people to use whatever they see you doing against you, so we have to always be careful. Eish, do I tell you this or not?

MQ: Come on, Jabu, you know you should!

EM: Okay, let me say it. I had issues with my previous partner that I was dating and my relationship with her led to things not going well for me in my career. A lot was happening in my life back then and she was the cause. I remember being told by Abdulla (Mayet, administration manager) at Chiefs that the club had been contacted by my partner, who accused me of not sleeping at home. I was shocked to hear that from a club official and I was asking myself many questions as to how a person who claimed to love me would say such things about me. I was doing whatever I was doing for her and my children and my family through playing football and there she was, calling the club to make such accusations about me. It then became clear to me that she wanted to destroy whatever that I had. She did the same thing at Free State Stars when I joined the club for the second time and my advice to guys out there is that they should check who they are dating before committing to anything. She called Rantsi (Mokoena) … I’m not a person who cries, but that day, I cried when Rantsi called me into his office to show me the messages she sent to him. Even though the messages were sent from a different phone number and she pretended to be someone else, I knew it was her because no one who doesn’t know me would have that kind of information that was sent to Rantsi about me. I go out to party once in a while and I’m not into those things that much, but the messages made it seem like I was someone who wasn’t sleeping at home all the time. When I feel like I want ukushaya i six-nyana (to imbibe a few cold ones), I do it indoors. There are many people out there who have personal problems, but they don’t take them to work. I never went to training drunk and I was always early and sober. In the end, I decided to end things with her and I moved on. Those are the things I went through and it was not nice. But God loves us all and whatever she has done to me might also happen to her. The things that I went through made me to be a strong person and I am moving on with my life.

MQ: That’s a side of a soccer player’s life that many people don’t know about, and you guys should start speaking more and more about these things. It’s the first step to healing. Keep strong. Until we chat again.

EM: Thanks. ❐