I experienced tribalism…

Masebe Qina: What have you been up to since leaving Royal AM?

Aviwe Nyamende: I’ve been without a club and training with Vusi Mthimkhulu, a former Orlando Pirates and Polokwane City player, and it’s been going well. We both stay in Midrand, so it makes sense that we train together when possible. But a lot has happened in my career and there’ve been a lot of dis

appointments.

MQ: The stage is yours! AN:

Like I’m saying, things have happened. When I first joined Bloemfontein Celtic under coach Lehlohonolo Seema in 2019/20, I had high hopes and thought I’d make progress as I was featuring in his matchday squads. The signs were there that I’d eventually get a chance and I was happy under Seema. He is one coach who’d even approach me to encourage me on the things that I needed to work on. I remember this one day after one of the friendly matches, he played me as a left centre-back and he was impressed with how I performed. I remember him telling me that had that been an official league game, I’d have been Man of the Match. Imagine being told that by your coach after one or two games into the season, I was so motivated and wanted to do more. He said I reminded him of his time at Pirates playing as a left centre-back. When I played my first official game against Chippa United in the same season, the coach put his job on the line for me. There were people at the club who wanted him to play Lucky Baloyi at left back ahead of me and the coach had none of it. He told the chairman (Max Tshabalala) that he was going to play me in the absence of (Sifiso) Ngobeni, who had a problem with a quad strain that he started experiencing a day before the game. The coach came to me after training on the eve of the game and told me to be ready as I was going to play. He instructed me to prepare myself and sleep on time.

MQ: It must have felt good… AN:

Yes, but later on, there was a meeting where he, the chairman and the guys discussed the issue of Baloyi possibly playing at left back, with (Mpusana) Tani coming on at right back. But the coach was resolute in saying that he was prepared to lose his job for me to play that day. He basically gave the chairman the mandate (go-ahead) to fire him if he played me and I underperformed. I played one of my best games for Celtic that day. But after Seema left the club, it was like I never existed to the club. But what got me frustrated the most was the fact that I experienced tribalism at the club.

MQ: That’s shocking. What happened?

AN:

Yes, and I’m not joking. I never said anything in public about

this and I’m mentioning it for the first time in the media. I’ve gone through a lot, and I feel it’s time that I reveal what was happening behind the scenes at Celtic. You can be as talented as much as you can, but if you are not given a chance to showcase your talent, you’ll remain non-existent, and that’s what I experienced at the club. It happened to me because someone didn’t believe in my abilities. But I would look at it and feel bad because sometimes I thought I was 10 times better than the player who played ahead of me in the same position. The guy would play week in and week out while I watched from the stands. I remember during the bio-bubble, I was meant to start the game against Maritzburg United because Ngobeni was

fatigued. The guy was really tired, and he was honest about it. In the previous match, I had been on the bench against SuperSport United and Ngobeni had raised the issue of being tired from that match already and many expected that I’d replace him. To my surprise, as I was warming up, Victor Letsoalo and the other attacking player were called to replace other attacking players and Ngobeni was allowed to continue for the remaining 20 minutes despite being tired. In one of our training sessions for the Maritzburg match, we were playing three at the back and (Mzwanele) Mahashe got stuck in midfield a little bit and when I looked, (Menzi) Masuku was wide and (Lantshene) Phalane had the ball and we were in danger of conceding a goal and I saw it coming and quickly dropped to close Masuku down while also covering for Mahashe at the same time. I successfully stopped the threat of them scoring. Do you know what happened?

MQ: Tell us about it. AN:

The coach (John Maduka) stopped the play and told me that I was supposed to be wingback-to-wingback in my marking. I tried to explain to the coach what I saw and why I played the way I did. After that, the coach instructed me out of the training session and played Jorry Matjila as a left wingback. After training, (Ditheko) Mototo came to my room in the hotel, and he was in agreement with what I did earlier in training and my explanation thereof on why I did it. He was appreciative of the fact that I was more focused on defending and to not concede. But I did come on against Maritzburg for the last 15 minutes as Matjila was cramping and I almost scored a goal.

MQ: How was your relationship with Maduka?

AN: My relationship with Maduka was never good. When we first got to Celtic for trials, Maduka never

Such is the frustration brought about by a string of misfortunes to have befallen Aviwe Nyamende, that he has started to flirt with the idea of retirement. Loss of hope is a footballer’s worst nightmare after all. Signing for Kaizer Chiefs back in 2016 was considered the perfect launch pad to set him on the path to fulfilment, but to this day, mystery surrounds his departure from the Soweto giants. From there, things got worse

for the 29-year-old, even if wanted to sign us. It was me, Tumiso Mogakwe, Sifiso Ngobeni, Matjila and Sera Motebang. The coach who gave us the opportunity was Seema.

MQ: Interesting. Moving on, what happened between you and Kaizer Chiefs in 2016?

AN:

Okay, when Chiefs played their last game of the season in 2016 against Chippa at Soccer City, where they lost 2-0, I already knew that I’d be going to the club because a week before that match, I was spotted while playing in Soweto. I was spotted playing at Nike the Football Training Centre by Arthur Zwane. I was playing as a left winger that day, which is my natural position before I was converted to left back at Ajax Cape Town (now Cape Town Spurs) when Mosa Lebusa had a knee surgery. I was playing with legends such as Fabian McCarthy, Cyril Nzama, Edelbert Dinha, Josta Dladla and others for their Nike team against some of the local teams. Zwane was not playing on the day, and he chose to be the coach. We knew how funny he could be at times and no one had issues with his choice on the day. In the first half, we were leading 3-0 and I was providing crosses for Stanton Lewis. Stanton Fredericks was there as well. Some of the legends were asking who I was. That’s when Arthur said he’d recommend me to Steve Komphela (then Chiefs coach) as a left back. It was on a Friday, and the following day Dinha got a call from Arthur to confirm that Komphela agreed that I should come to their training the following Monday. But that Monday’s training session was cancelled and I only started training with Chiefs on that Tuesday until Friday. At Chiefs, they film the training sessions,

and I remember coach Komphela sitting on top of the ball watching and being impressed. That’s when he told the club that he wanted me back for pre-season. The coach was impressed that even though I was playing as a left back, I could hit a diagonal ball with the right foot. The thing is I can kick with my weakest foot in the same way that I do with my preferred foot.

MQ: Go on. AN:

a light at the end of the tunnel did appear as some glimmer of hope, albeit in brief spells. Struggling for game-time at Bloemfontein Celtic, including being substituted in a training session at some stage, to players being played out of position while he watched from the sidelines, the Matatiele-born defender has had heartache following him like a clingy exlover. In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Masebe Qina, Nyamende gets it all off his chest!

I went on to join Chiefs in their pre-season in Nelspruit. I was with the team when we played in the F.A.M.E (Charity) Cup against Magesi and Baroka FC in the morning and afternoon respectively. Steve was happy and I signed the contract. But even today, I’m still looking for answers on what happened in that Chiefs deal.

MQ: How long did you sign for?

AN:

The contract was for two years plus an option of one year. I signed the contract in front of Bobby (Motaung) and the club’s official with a long beard (Abdulla Mayet, Chiefs’ administration manager). It was a weekend off after that and on Monday when I reported for training, I was told that the team was looking to sign an international centre-back and I can’t remember who it was, but he was a Ghanaian. He trained with the team for one week, but he wasn’t even signed. But all of that led to me being released. Yes, a left back was released for a centre-back who only trained and wasn’t signed. My Chiefs contract was missing only the chairman Dr (Kaizer) Motaung’s signature because he was away when I signed, but everything else had been finalised. I was later told by Bobby that I was being released and, at the time, I had just picked up a groin injury in training. I don’t know if the injury had an effect on that decision or it was the club’s plans, but what I remember was seeing (Daniel) Cardoso playing at left back when (Tsepo) Masilela was out and Sbu Khumalo had been serving a suspension.

MQ: What did the coach say when that decision was made?

AN:

The coach had pleaded with Bobby to bring me back, but Bobby didn’t want to bring me back to the club. I packed my bags and left Jo’burg. I decided to go back home in Cape Town just to be with my aunt. That was when my uncle, Afrika Tshona, did an interview with Soccer Laduma to say how, as the family, they were supporting me through those difficult times.

MQ: What happened next? AN:

“I’m mentioning it for the first time in the media.”

“I’m still looking for answers on what happened in that Chiefs deal. ”

I went to train with Golden Arrows and I remember coach Clinton Larsen wanted to sign me after seeing me play in a friendly against AmaZulu FC. They had the likes of

(Limbikani) Mzava and (Matome) Mathiane and the coach told me that he wanted to add me to the squad. I had already started discussions with the chairlady for me to be signed when I was later told that I should leave because there was a deal done with Pirates for them (Arrows) to get Nkosinathi Mthiyane instead on loan. I remember bumping into Mthiyane at the airport on his way to Arrows as I was travelling back to Cape Town. The guy was already in Arrows’ gear on his way to the club, caba bamnika ukuba azinxibe kwase (and it appears he was given the stuff to wear in) Jo’burg already. It’s been quite a journey of difficulties and I can confirm to you now that Im waiting on the (South African Football Players) Union to pay for my coaching badges.

MQ: So, are you thinking of quitting?

AN:

I’m thinking of starting a D licence coaching course with SAFA and making my way up through all the levels. I still want to play, but I want to start preparing for life after football for in case this foot

ball thing doesn’t work. I feel like in South Africa we don’t produce enough players from development, except for the big clubs. My aim is to focus on that aspect of the game after I retire.

MQ: Thanks for talking to us openly and we wish you everything of the best. Hopefully a door will open for you again.

AN: Thank you. It’s been a pleasure talking to the Soccer Laduma readers.