TEBOGO MATHEBULA

(PART 2)

Last week was an interesting one, especially with all the mad stuff about the late Emmanuel “Scara” Ngobese. What do you have for us this week, brother?

Another character that I played with, and whom I have so much respect for, is Teko Modise. I played with him at City Pillars. He was just another character. Our boss used to pay us without any problems, but towards the end of the season, he would say he did not have money, but Teko would be getting his salary because he was staying in some nice hotel in Fairview. But listen, the way he was working hard at training, you could tell that this guy was going somewhere. He would be the first one to arrive, and when he got to training, he would play around with the ball, all on his own. When they said we had to run and yet we were demotivated due to our financial struggles, he would say, “Masiyeni bafethu. Asidlaleli laba abantu, sidlalela thina (Let’s go, guys. We aren’t playing for these people, we are playing for ourselves).” You could see ukuthi lo muntu lo (that this guy) was different from us, but we couldn’t understand it back then. We kept asking ourselves why he was so motivated, but he had his own dream. I remember we used to travel in a 22-seater Sprinter (minibus) to matches and, on matchday, he would come wearing his hoodie and he would not talk to anyone. He would sit there in front, just behind the driver. He would not talk to anyone up until the game started. During warm-up, he’s not talking to anyone. Come the game, five-star performance, Man of the Match! He would be scoring like nobody’s business. You know, such players, mf’ethu (my brother), it’s not easy to get them. We didn’t understand it then, but the more you grew in the game, the more you got to understand that this guy was so special in his way. The signs were there that this guy is special. But make no mistake with Teko and training. He’s one player that I’ve played alongside who’s so talented and still puts in more work at training… well, maybe he come second after Steven Pienaar.

Besides Scara and Teko, who were the other characters?

Masilo Modubi, I would say, was a character, although we did not play together at a high level. We were together at the School of Excellence. He just had his own character. He was so naughty in the sense that when you looked at him, you wouldn’t say he wa someone who had the ability to get up to mischief. He still has that face, whereby he’s a very, very serious guy, but no, man, he’s naughty that guy…

Tell us more…

At the School, we had a tuckshop. You know that at boarding school, sometimes there would be that dry spell where everyone is broke. We would go and steal there at the tuckshop, and then when they caught us, they would say, “Masilo was there? No, no, no, not Masilo!” Ha, ha, ha. That’s because, like I told you, he looked so innocent.

Now, let’s get to your time at Mamelodi Sundowns. You may not have played much for the star-studded outfit, but we understand you still had a lot of fun. You can say that again. There was this other day where we had just won the Nedbank Cup. So, we went out and the celebration went on and on. I was with Vuyo (Mere) because I didn’t have a car at the time. Vuyo said, “Hey baba, siyabaleka manje (man, we’re running away now).” The guys, the likes of Lerato Chabangu and Lungisani Ndlela, wanted to change location, so Vuyo told them, “Okay, sonilandela bafethu, sonilandela (we’ll follow you, guys, we’ll follow you).” So, we were somewhere in Pretoria, I think. As the guys were driving to this place, and as they indicated to the right, Vuyo pretended that he was following them to the right, and then he went left. Before you know it, we had disappeared from sight, just like that. He then said to me, “Hey ntwana, tima phone

ya hao ge bare founela mo a re tshware di phone di be (switch off your phone. When they try to call us, they won’t be able to get us, as the phones will be switched) off.” The guys were so p***ed the following day, saying,

“Nisenza iyilima nina (So you are making fools out of us, hey)?” Ha, ha, ha. But it was so funny.

Ha, ha, ha, indeed, you turned them into your playthings! And then we had Tyren Arendse. Do you remember Fanyana Dhladhla?

Yes, of course. He later changed his surname to Mokoena.

He joined Sundowns from Free State Stars. So, one morning, he came into the dressing room and said, “Hey, majita, yazi le nyanga lezi ziyadura (guys, you know these muti men are quite expensive).” Arendse understood IsiZulu, so he asked him, “Benzani (What are they doing), Skhokho?” Dhladhla responded, “Hayi (No), if they hear that udlalela i (you’re playing for) Sundowns, their price

iyakhuphuka (shoots up).” Arendse, not believing what he was hearing, said, “Huh? So wena uyazi kanjani (how do you know that)?” Dhladhla told him,

“Ngibuya khona (I’ve just come from there).” By now, Arendse was on the edge of his seat. He asked him,

“Hayi maan ndoda, ubuyaphi (I beg your pardon, you’re coming from where)?” Dhladhla, without batting an eyelid, said,

“Ngibuy’ enyangeni (I’m coming from the muti man). This week,

ngiyadlala (I’m playing) and

ngizokora (I’m going to score).” True to his word, he played and he scored and we won 1-0.

Unbelievable.

Thereafter, Arendse would then come into the dressing room and say, “Hey Fanyana, you must take me there nami, ngifun’ ukuya (I also want to go there).” To which Dhladhla would reply, “Hayi, hayi, hayi, Tyren, sizolwela ama goal. Phela ama goal wala eclubini mancane, so if siya laphayana, angekhe ngikhone ukukora mina (we’ll fight over goals. Remember the team hasn’t scored too many goals, so if we go there, I will never be able to score).” So, I couldn’t believe ukuthi this guy comes from the inyanga and then comes and tells the guys that he comes from the inyanga. I thought it’s a secret, but he would splash it out just like that. He didn’t care that guy. We also had Surprise Moriri.

Ah,

the Matibidi-born maestro, everyone’s favourite. There definitely has to be some stories about him because

we’re told there was never a dull moment with him around.

He’s one of the players that I regard as one of the best ever we’ve produced from kasi. You know, that guy didn’t have pace, but his brains were something else. You remember Elias Ngwepe?

We do remember the diminutive former left back, who also turned out for Maritzburg United and Bloemfontein Celtic, among others. What about him? He was a ZCC member, so when he came to training, he would wear the cap that is usually worn by male members of that church, and then Surprise would steal the cap and hide it! He and Ngwepe were so close, and in those moments, Ngwepe knew exactly that no one else but Surprise would steal his cap. After that, they would get into a serious fight, but moments later, you would see them walking together, going to eat. Surprise was such a character, my man, yho! When we played rondo before training, he would chip the ball over Ndlela’s head. He would say, “Lo, mfishane lo (This one, he’s short this one)!” Ha, ha, ha. See, you cannot chip in that space, but because of the quality that Surprise possessed, he was able to chip the ball over Ndlela’s head with ease. That would always be followed by: “Lo ngulo umfishane ukusidlula sonke (This one is the shortest among all of us).” Ndlela would be so p***ed, telling him, “Surprise, ska ntloaela hampe nhe, ska ntloaela hampe (don’t you dare disrespect me).”