LUNGISANI NDLELA

(PART 1)

Lungisani Ndlela was one of the most difficult strikers to play against in the PSL. After finishing matric, he moved to Vaal where he played for an amateur team, Real Rangers, alongside the likes of Solomon Mathe and Papi Zothwane. After spending two years at Maritzburg City and University of Pretoria, he joined Moroka

Swallows where he helped the Dube Birds win the 2004 Absa Cup. The lanky striker went on to play for SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns before returning to Swallows at the twilight of his career. He had a short sting with United FC in the National First Division before retiring in 2011.

Archa Man, thanks a lot for taking time to talk to us. Just take our readers to the beginning of your professional career, how did your move Moroka Swallows come about?

I was playing for an amateur team called Colombia. Colombia was a team made up of former professional players and few young players from Tembisa. So, we were playing a friendly match against Moroka Swallows, and I gave their defenders, Gary McNab and Mohammed Ouseb, some hard time. I think I played well and the guys who were there can attest to that. After the match I went to Gavin Hunt and asked him if I could train with his team. But he didn’t recognise me because I was wearing my private clothes, he asked me: ‘Who are you’. And I told him in my broken English that: ‘It’s me Lungisani, the guy who was disturbing your defenders a few minutes ago’. He laughed and said: ‘Oh son, no problem, come to our training ground in Germiston.’ I did as he told me, I went to Germiston and had a few training sessions with the team before I was signed. I was very skinny, but Gavin loved the fact that I was a typical target-man, which suited his style of play.

What happened next?

I was signed just before the transfer window closed, and I didn’t think about how much I was going to get paid because I just wanted to play and I didn’t have an agent. They were not sure whether they were signing a good player or not. So, I moved in with Albert Kometsi and he welcomed me with warm arms. My first game was against Manning Rangers, I didn’t even have a match jersey, the kitman had to write my name with a koki pen on a white athletic tape and put it at the back of the jersey. After half time the coach pointed to the bench and asked me to come on. I was shaking with nerves. I was thinking to myself that if top strikers like Shaun Permall were not scoring, how was I going score? I came on, Kometsi scored the first goal and I scored the second one and we beat Rangers 2-1. But after the match the kitman was reprimanded and told that he would be fired if I don’t have a match jersey. I was settling in well to the team, my second game was against Mamelodi Sundowns in the Coca-Cola Cup where I scored my second goal. And the following match was against Dynamos, and I scored my first PSL hattrick. After that, everyone started to take notice.

You were playing with the late Denis Lota up front. How was that like?

Those were good times. That seathree son we finished on position and won the Absa Cup in Bloemfontein. Before the Absa Cup final, the coach asked Denis: Who do you prefer playing with upfront?’ and Denis answered: ‘Lungi’. That’s how I started the Absa Cup final.

While you were scoring goals for Moroka Swallows, your salary was R3 500. How did the media find out about your salary?

It was a weekend and one of the journalists called me and I invited him to the office. I had already been warned by the club not to disclose confidential information. Midway through the interview, the journalist asked me how much I was paid by Swallows and I told him that the information is confidential. He told me not to worry because it was off the record, so I disclosed to him that I was earning R3 500 and made it clear that he shouldn’t publish it. On Sunday, I saw an article about my salary, that’s when I knew I was in trouble. But to be honest with you, I was never upset with the guy, even today I don’t blame him for disclosing my salary. I was happy that people finally knew how much I was earning despite the fact that I was scoring goals for the team. There were other players in the team who were making R45 000 per month. From that R3 500 I used to send R500 home, and I still had to pay rent, buy clothes and food. But the coach was upset, he asked me what happened, and I told him that I didn’t tell the journalist that information. So, I was taken to the Disciplinary Committee, where I finally admitted and apologised to the team. I told them I didn’t know the information would be made public, while deep down inside, I was saying: thanks God.

Did that encourage other teams in the PSL from wanting to sign you?

Ha, ha, ha, don’t mention that. My phone was ringing non-stop. Mamelodi Sundowns were the first team to call me. Bloemfontein Celtic also wanted me, but I was not prepared to go back home to Free State. After our game against SuperSport United, I was called by Pit so Mosimane and he went straight to the point and said: ‘Lungi, would you be happy to join SuperSport

United? Everything is good, we will pay you my boy. Don’t worry, will fix everything, hey.’ You know how Pitso is, ha, ha, ha. The late Thomas Madigage was also there. My former Swallows teammate, Lucas Sebona told me to get an agent and not to tell anyone about the meeting. Swallows came, afterwards, and offered me R10 000 and I told them I wanted R20 000 net, and they told me no. The coach started to bench me, but results were not coming.

Were you happy after you joined SuperSport United?

I was happy and my salary went from R3 500 to R30 000. SuperSport United strikers were Tico-Tico Bucuane and Dale Studzinski – so my chances of playing were high. SuperSport United treated me like a king, they gave me everything I wanted. If I was not feeling well, I received the best treatment and only trained with the team before matches. The only thing they expected from me was to deliver goals on the field of play. That is all they expected. Another good thing about SuperSport was that Pitso didn’t want a lot of players in his team, there were only 26 players – so we all had a chance to play. I know that there were angry people at Moroka Swallows after I left, but for me and my family it was all progress.

Archa Man, thanks a lot for your time. Looking forward to talking to you again next week about your experience at SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns.

No problem, let’s chat then.