I hope that phone call comes to me DF: Do you think having coaches who believe in your ability plays a role in that consistency? ZK:
“The other day, I was having a conversation with my dad saying…”
“Sometimes, stats are not everything. People look for what they want.”
Hardly spoken about, yet doing his job diligently beke le beke (week after week). That’s been the story of Zitha Kwinika, whose appearance stats for the past five seasons are nothing short of admirable. It’s the kind of consistency you don’t see a lot of in the Premier Soccer League nowadays, even by the modest standards of a Stellenbosch FC, where he plies his trade. Not to mention how fame and fortune so often turns into shame and misfortune for many a player, in a game that can spit you out faster than it absorbed you. The 28-yearold is on the straight and narrow, though, and in this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Delmain Faver, speaks openly about how he is able to stay at the top of his game as a professional, why not being called up to Bafana Bafana does not give him sleepless nights and the interest reportedly being shown in him by other clubs within the league. Read on!
Delmain Faver: Zitha, this season we’ve seen you follow a number of players who’ve undergone surname changes in the past. Please explain the inspiration behind the change.
Zitha Kwinika:
I actually said I was doing it at the end of last season so that I knew that when the new season started, I would have changed my surname. To show that it’s been long (in the pipeline), that thing takes, like, six to eight months before they change it at Home Affairs. So, it’s been in the pipeline, it was just a matter of waiting for the new season. The reason behind that is Kwinika, in the Black culture, is my surname because it’s from my dad’s side. So, it was bound to happen. It was just a matter of time for me just to change and certain traditional things needed to be done before we made it official, so I was just waiting for that moment. People even thought my dad is Macheke (laughs). But because ever since I started school and finished school, I’ve been staying with the guy,
so I think he also deserved that. Besides that, that’s something I needed to do as a guy to continue the surname.
DF: Another change for you has been the fact that occasionally, you’ve been handed the captain’s armband at Stellenbosch FC... ZK:
For me, it’s a good task. I’m one person who enjoys new opportunities. I think the conversation in that is that I’m not the captain as yet, but there was a time that Robyn (Johannes) was injured and Langas (Lee Langeveldt) was injured… I think that was the first time I got the armband. JJ (Alan Robertson) was out of the team and that’s where the coach said he thinks I can be the right person to lead the team on the day. So, that’s the main reason for that. But in that, I also had an added responsibility because I think it was made easier by the position I played: centre-back. I was always leading from the back. Whether I have the armband or not, it’s part of my game to try and organise the team and the boys, try to push them because most of the guys, I’m more experienced than them, so it’s within me to try and help them, guide them in the right direction.
DF: You’ve played a lot more games as a right back than as a centre-back, although you’ve also played as a right winger and as a six. What’s your best position? ZK:
(Laughs) Ja, football! Growing up, I was a winger. Maybe you can see it in how I play. From there, I went to school, where I played central midfield. That’s where I got used to the position. I then got to development and played centre-back. Then, the other day, I remember the first game I played at right back for Chippa (United), we were playing against Platinum Stars. While warming up, Diamond Thopola got injured and then our coach, Tebza (Tebogo Moloi), asked me, “Can you play right back?” You know when you want to play, you play anywhere. I remember before the game I had the stress of my life because I was supposed to play against (Mahlatse) Makudubela and he was one of those wingers who come to you the whole game, but trust me, I played well in that game and then from there, I played right back. But if you can go back to my stats with Thanda Royal Zulu, I played 28 games as a centre-back and that’s when we won the league and got promotion (from the First Division), but AmaZulu FC bought the status. I think I’ve played all the positions, but centre-back, I would say, is where I’m most comfortable. But I can play anywhere. Right back, you can see there’s no pace and whatnot, but yeah, I managed. I don’t know how… football brains, I think.
DF: Impressively, you haven’t played less than 20 games a season since the 2017/18 campaign with Chippa, which speaks volumes about your level of consistency.
ZK:
I don’t want to lie, I think I’m one person who works hard and I pride myself on consistency. I’ve been checking how my career has been from when I started until this point in time and I know that my benchmark is, like, 20 games. The other day, I was having a conversation with my dad saying I wonder when the day comes when I don’t get to that, how I’ll deal with that because ever since that season, I’ve never played less than 20 games. But I don’t want to lie and say it’s based on other things… it’s about the hard work, the commitment and the consistency. I think the consistency is one of those things that once you start playing and tasting it, you always want to play. Luckily for me, I think God has been on my side. I’m not one to get injured. Even now, I’m mad at myself because of the suspension (recently). So, it’s just those small things that can affect my game. But I don’t think I’ve arrived, I still want to do more.
It plays a vital role. You know, sometimes when people laugh and say at Chippa you’ve been coached by 20 coaches, I say it’s bad and its good. But I found the positivity in there based on the fact that I was coached by different coaches with different coaching styles. From the outside, you can never understand, but I can see the growth because the coaches are not the same. Like, for argument’s sake, a coach like Dan ‘Dance’ (Malesela)… For me to be able to play, I can say Dan played a role in that because that’s what he believes in. He wants you to play. Someone like coach Clinton (Larsen). Tebza is a coach who believes in hard work. All those coaches instilled something in me, which makes life a bit easier for me to go to any other place and try to adjust because I’ve been exposed to certain things that other coaches want. Someone like coach Steve (Barker) gives you so much freedom and just lets you play. I think it’s because of where
I come from that also rubbed off on the next coach and maybe when you move to a different environment, you don’t take time to adjust because you’ve been exposed to certain things. I understand the demands of certain things and how to do certain things, even though they’re not the same. But at the end of the day, football is football. When I was promoted under a coach like Stuart (Baxter), I didn’t play, but when I listened to his coaching, he is a person who makes you understand there’s certain things you can’t do when you are a defender. There’s pockets and this and that. So, those things happened while growing into the game. But obviously the best teacher is once you start playing.
DF: National team call-ups have been hard to come by.
ZK:
I’m one person who doesn’t like complaining about this thing. Yes, it’s every player’s dream to represent the country, or when you do good, to get recognised. I can never lie and run away from that, that’s the honest truth. But I’m one person who believes in God. As a faithful believer, I believe everything has its own time, and in this process, it’s about managing what I can control. Once you focus on external factors, who doesn’t notice you and you start finding loopholes, I think those are things that are not important at this particular time. What’s important is for me to perform! I’m playing 20 games in my team every season and that’s what I’m getting paid for. People who recognise that and notice that are giving me an opportunity to play and I do it every week. If now I want to focus on the national team, people are not overlooking me and trust me, there’s 16 teams. There are other guys who are doing better. And I clap for people who do good. They do well and if they select them, we support them. I’m not that person to be moaning about whether I’m doing better than who and who. But if they go and check their stats, stats don’t lie. I think it has shown, but sometimes stats are not everything. People look for what they want. Coaches are coaches. We understand this game, so you can never always moan because if you want to start focusing on those things, you’ll be miserable for the rest of your career. So, you just control what you can control, which is your performance, and hopefully one day someone will notice and see the good things you’re doing and they reward you.
DF: At least, if media reports are to be believed, you’ve attracted interest from other PSL clubs.
ZK:
That one, to be honest with you, it’s good for me. It means I’m doing a good job and that on its own should keep me going. I need to be on my toes. Then, if that comes to me, and if it’s the honest truth, then Stellenbosch would come to me and say, ‘No, (Kaizer) Chiefs wants you’, or this or that. But if anything hasn’t come to me, then I can’t get over the moon based on assumptions and who thinks what. Football people have their own agendas. You can never know why and how, you understand? But just to be honest with you, I’m focused on my game and Stellenbosch. I still have a contract with Stellenbosch. If they are having a conversation and then Stellenbosch comes to me and says, ‘Zitha, this is this’, then that will be a story for another day. But no one has confronted me with anything or spoken to me. Maybe they’re speaking in their corner there. Then if that’s the case, I hope that phone call comes to me and then we can take it from there. ❐