THAPELO LESHABANE (PART 4)

So, Screamer Tshabalala is our starting point this week. You two had never met, but he was already heavily involved in you moving from one team to another. How is that even possible? There was a time he invited me to come and play at Kaizer Chiefs during the time of (Paul) Dolezar. I was still also playing at school and in the township, where there was a buzz about me, like I mentioned previously. He then spoke to Farouk Khan (ex-Chiefs development coach), asking him to organise a game and put me in there so that he could see me playing. That was the season the likes of Jabu (Pule, now Mahlangu) were also under Farouk. I then went to that game, only to find that Farouk had not organised a game. But then I got kitted out and trained with the team. However, Screamer was not there as he already knew the game would not be taking place. Farouk was impressed with me and he even said, “There’s players who are going to the first team when the season ends. Stay with me here and when the season ends, if you continue working hard like this, you’ll also move with them to the first team.” I was okay with that arrangement and I went back home, but I had already started playing at Alex United. There was a coach at Alex United named Wonder Maseko. When I came back, he said to me, “You know what, according to me, you are not ready to play professional football. Stay with me here and I will help your game. When you’re ready, you’ll get a team.” Ha, ha, ha. After two days training with Chiefs, I decided to stop training with them, thinking that the guy had my best interests at heart. What happened is that he turned his back on me there and then. I quit football, ha, ha, ha! So, now, Bra Screamer appears again years later, telling Dynamos they should play me at left back, and that’s how I got to play in that position. Bra Screamer was also involved in me moving to (Orlando) Pirates, again, but again, we had never met.

We’re enjoying this because these are the behind-thescenes happenings that the fans never get to hear about. All they see is a player moving from one team to the other, never privy to the little details that make or break such deals. Go on. So, he was like a guardian angel in my football career because when they sold Dynamos, we were made part of the deal… it was me, Martin Carelse, Soul Mmethi and Mpho Maleka. We had to move to AmaZulu FC. When we were there, if you remember very well, there was an issue of money between Pat Malabela and Bab’ (Patrick) Sokhela. It appears that there were some financial problems on the part of Bab’ Sokhela in the early stages of the deal. I think Pat wanted to take his team back and Bra Screamer saw it coming, so he called me and asked, “What’s happening? Listen, January, you have to go to Parktown.” That was in the middle of the season. That’s how I left AmaZulu because things were uncertain even regarding our payments and signing-on fees. Imali yebhola zange ngiyibone (I never got that much money from football), but where things got better was at Dynamos. That’s where I enjoyed football the most because after the R8 000 contract ended, they gave me a two-year contract. When the first season of that two-year contract ended, all the players were called in for negotiations. We were coming back from pre-season, and they said those who had played well the previous season would be receiving salary increments. And then people were going in, people were going in, people were going in. Mina, like, eish… things can happen in another way, mf’ethu (my brother). We were close as players ,so we were asking every player who had gone in how it went and what to expect, and guys were saying they got R1 500 increases, others said they received R2 000 increases. They all said that you were asked how much you wanted to earn and you had to motivate why you felt you deserved it. Some of the trialists also got contracts. Eish, Lunga, my friend, do you know what time I got in there?

Huh? Since we were there from 09h30, I only got in there at 23h30!

No ways, ha, ha, ha.

Last, last, last man to go in there! You can understand the frustration on my part, ha, ha, ha. I kept asking myself why I wasn’t being called. Then when I got in there, Bra Pat… I’ll forever appreciate that man. That man appreciated me, uyabona (you see), not in a way of favouring me over others, but he appreciated me a lot and he was someone who was fair. Even if things were not going well on his side, but he tried his utmost. Remember the team did not have a sponsor, but he tried to make everyone happy. I remember when I got in there, he said, “This boy, I got him when Silver Stars didn’t want him, but now they’re telling me that they want him back.” I sat down and then he said to me, “So, we want to give you money. We want to make an improvement to your contract.” I got very excited and relieved, and then he asked, “But before we give you this three-year contract, how much do you want us to give you?” That was the first time ever in my life I was negotiating my contract, or even having a say. As I didn’t know what to say and kept saying, “Ah, ekhaya, uyabona, ehh, lana, and then mina…”, he could see ngiyabhayiza (I was making a mess of it) and then he said, “Stop right there. Okay, I’m going to give you 12-and-a-half (thousand rand) after tax.” So, he almost doubled my salary and I was happy because I never dreamt of that money. You know, sometimes things happen in your life in such a way that you think that nothing is ever going to happen for you.

Sure.

Whenever things had to come right, someone would come up somewhere and it would spoil things for you, so that was the first time I was happy since playing football. But instead of three years, we agreed on two years. But now, what’s happening, where I was staying, there was a gentleman who supported the team. He came to me and said, “Mf’ethu, I heard that you are leaving.” I asked him, “Where am I going?” He said, “No, you know.” I said, “No, I don’t know.” Look, I was quiet, even though I was playful, so he said, “No, you are leaving.” So, the morning after the signing of the contract, Rodney Thobejane came up to me and asked, “Have you signed?” I said, “Yes.” He then laughed. I asked him what the matter was. Then he told me, “Wena kahle-kahle, kunabantu bebakufuna (You, actually, there were people who wanted you). But now you’ve signed, so it doesn’t matter anymore.” I asked him, “Who are those people?” He said, “No maan, Chiefs, neba o batla gore o tle boy, o tla dlala le bona (they wanted you to come and play for them).” I was pained by that, and then I started doing calculations, and I thought to myself, ‘Oh, no wonder they improved my contract like that.’ Everyone else was getting R1 500, R2 000, uyabona, bonuses, and they gave me a new contract. I then spoke to (Alex) “Barnes” Bapela and he confessed that it was like that, but that I shouldn’t worry, I would be alright. In the end, I looked at it in a way that I had to do this for me and it shows that they appreciate me. I was okay.

That’s where you met our friend Jacob Sakala, right?

Ha, ha, ha, yes, I met him at Dynamos in my second full season there. That’s when he came back to assist coach Lefa (Gqosha) and “Barnes”. That’s a character, ha, ha, ha. He was the best. You always looked forward to going to training because you knew he was going to do something odd and funny.