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SEUNTJIE MOTLHAJWA (PART 2)

Welcome back Chippa. Last week you told us everything we wanted to know about your time at SuperSport United. Can you share with us some of the most memorable times you had at Jomo Cosmos.

I would say my best time at Jomo Cosmos was in 2004 when we went to Saudi Arabia for a tournament. Even though I only played one match throughout the entire tournament, I had a wonderful time with my teammates and learned a lot about the country. Lovers Mohlala made that trip fun. Before every match, he used to write a letter to every player in the team telling us if we win, we would each receive R7000 bonus fee. After we were knocked out in the semifinals, Bra J told us that there was no such thing, ha, ha, ha. That is Lovers for you, he is a very funny person. He was making jokes, and the guys were always happy to be around him.

We have heard a lot of muti stories from other PSL players. Tell us about your experience with muti. Did you use it, and if you did, how was that experience like?

Ha, ha, ha. I was at Jomo Cosmos, and we were playing against Black Leopards in Thohoyandou. Before the match we were told to use the team bus as a dressing room. And when we asked our officials, why are we dressing in the team bus instead of the dressing room because those dressing room in Venda looked fine except for the strong smell. We were told that it was because Black Leopards were using a strong muti and that’s why we couldn’t go inside.

What happened next?

Bra J’s muti man gave him two sticks and a rope and told him that: ‘When Black Leopards were attacking, we should tie the two sticks together and when Cosmos was attacking, we should separate them’. I guess what annoyed me the most about the whole situation is that I was on the bench for that game and Bra J gave the two sticks and the rope to me. He told me exactly what to do when Leopards were attacking and what to do when Cosmos were on the ball. But I was so upset because I wanted to play. I took the two sticks and the rope and did the direct opposite of what he told me. When Leopards were attacking, I would separate the sticks and when Cosmos were attacking, I would tie the sticks together, ha, ha, ha. And I did all that in front him. After we conceded three goals, and were trailing 3-0 before half time, Bra J got angry. He took the sticks away from me and gave them to Rabie Nkoane. Ath alf time inside the dressing room, hes tarted telling other players: ‘Eish, someone is upset and that is why hei s costing us the game’. He said: ‘Guys, Seuntjie is costing us this game, he is killing us’. The rest of the players looked confused because they had no idea what he was talking about because I was on the bench. Wel ost that match 4-0 in the end and ono ur way home, he kept saying: ‘Hey, this man killed us today’. Other players asked me what was Bra J talking about and I explained to them that I was supposed to follow the muti man’s instructions but instead I did the direct opposite. They couldn’t stop laughing at me.

Did Cosmos use muti a lot? Yho, sometimes we used to travel to the team hotel during the week when there were no matches. We used to got o the hotel thinking that it was a team building exercise. We would get there and wash (with muti) especially when we were playing against big teams like Orlando Pirates.

After you left Cosmos, you joined Ajax Cape Town. Ajax Cape Town found me when I had already given upo n football, I was really frustrated. GorIgesund don called met o tell me that Joseph Ngake was leaving because they were not renewing his contract. They were looking for an experienced player like myself; a winger with a similar style of play to Joseph. I explained to him that I still had a contract with Jomo Cosmos, but I was not playing and I wanted to leave. When he called me, it was in the morning and I was on my way to training. But I explained to Gordon that it’s OK, I will tell Bra J that I want to leave. When I arrived at training, I went to Bra J and told him that I wanted to leave because I was not playing, I asked him to terminate my contract with immediate effect because I wanted to leave. He asked me if I was sure, and my answer was; ‘I am 100 percent sure’. After training, we went to his office and immediately after giving me my transfer clearance, John Comitis called him to tell him that I was going to Cape Town to join Ajax. Bra J was upset, and said I betrayed him. In a nutshell, that is how I left Cosmos and the following day I was on a flight to Cape Town.

At Ajax, you played a lot of matches in the first season.

I played a lot of games in the first season but things changed when Gordon started to fight with John Comitis. John told Gordon that he was not promoting youngsters like Clifford Ngobeni and Stanton Lewis. But it’s not that Gordon didn’t believe in youngsters, it’s just that he felt that they were not ready to play for the senior team. Gordon is someone who wants players who are ready. So when the younger players were promoted, I found myself sitmore ting on the bench and more. And when my contract ended, I told them that it’s time for me leave and look for another team.

How can you describe your time at Ajax Cape Town compared to SuperSport United and Jomo Cosmos?

Ajax Cape Town and SuperSport United were similar in terms of how they conducted their business. The only difference was that Ajax didn’t pay as much as SuperSport. After I left Ajax, I went to train with Platinum Stars, but I found an environment that was not good. They were also telling me that they didn’t have money. Players did not negotiate contracts there, it was the club that decided how much they were going to pay. So I left and I went to Hanover Park and that was like going back to amateur football. To be honest with you, if you look at professional football now, teams are conducting business in a professional way compared to when I was playing. Things have improved a lot. I’m really happy to see a lot of players benefiting now. Even the Motsepe Foundation Championship is better now compared to when I was at Hanover Park. And I hope that things will continue to improve.

Chippa, once again, thanks a lot for sharing your experience with our readers and we wish you all the best. Thanks a lot, mfowethu.