Siwelele FC coach Godfrey Mosoetsa has addressed Zakhele Lepasa’s situation at the club, clarifying the striker’s limited playing minutes as the Bloemfontein outfit aims to turn their season around.
Mosoetsa opened up on Lepasa’s absence during Thursday’s Carling Knockout Cup press conference in Parktown, as Siwelele FC prepare to lock horns with Kaizer Chiefs in Sunday’s quarter-final clash at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium.
Lepasa has been virtually non-existent in the opening months of the 2026/27 Betway Premiership campaign, only making a late six-minute cameo against Marumo Gallants a few weeks ago—his solitary appearance of the season so far.
The 29-year-old forward is currently in his second campaign with the Bloemfontein-based side. He arrived ahead of the previous season under former head coach Lehlohonolo Seema, who has since been redeployed to lead Siwelele’s DStv Diski Challenge [DDC] side.
Lepasa joined Siwelele as a free agent in July 2025 following the expiry of his contract with boyhood club Orlando Pirates, but endured a frustrating debut campaign in which he managed just three appearances across all competitions.
Addressing the goal poacher’s persistent struggles to secure a starting spot, Mosoetsa confirmed that the forward is now fully cleared for action after spending extended time on the sidelines building his physical conditioning.
WHAT MOSOETSA SAID ABOUT ZAKHELE LEPASA’S LACK OF GAME-TIME
“I think almost everyone in this room knows who Zakhele Lepasa is. So when I came to the team, the one thing that I did was to make sure that everyone starts on a clean slate,” Mosoetsa said. “So everyone will be given a fair chance in terms of how they train and behave on and off the field. Zakhele is one of the smartest players on and off the field; he’s not afraid to ask challenging questions, but he’s still humble.
“For me, it was just a question of how long he hasn’t played, and the [previous] FIFA break gave us the opportunity for him to be able to form a base, and once we felt that he was ready, that’s when we said, let’s bring him in.
“We didn’t bring him in immediately, and the game against Marumo was his first game, and going forward we hope that at least he’ll bring certain elements that we know him for. We need such players for us to get out of where we are; we will need a lot of experienced players to take us out of the woods.”
Siwelele will be gunning for a major upset against Chiefs in the Carling Cup and boost their confidence in their bid to move out of the bottom half of the league table.
As at stands, Siwelele are sitting 14th on the log standings with six points, having claimed only one win, three draws and five defeats in nine matches.
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