Type “I’ve always wanted to play for Orlando Pirates” on any internet search engine, and at least six stories pop up. The name on the stories is the same.
The underlying revelation is that the boy’s dream was to grow up and one day play for his favourite PSL team. Perchance represent his nation with pride.
20 years ago, in the dusty streets of Soweto, Thulani Hlatshwayo was playing diski ekasi with the utmost ambition of eventually playing for his childhood team.
His idol at the time – the late Ernest ‘Botsotso’ Makhanya – who lived just a stone’s throw from his home, was a midfield maestro for Buccaneers. He was a superstar, a left-footed ace-par-excellence.
Perhaps a foreseer, too, because one day, he foretold that Hlatshwayo had the makings of a Bucs player after watching him play. A prominent former Bucs star is on record as confirming the ‘Botsotso’ Makhanya prophecy.
With his idol’s endorsement and determination, he set out to conquer the world. But his journey would take off some 1400 km from his Soweto locality – in the Mother City. Ajax Cape Town would be the nursery that chisels him into a defender who would eventually lead Bafana Bafana.
Coincidentally, his professional debut was against his beloved Pirates on 5 August 2009 in an MTN8 quarterfinal that the Capetonians won 2–1 in Johannesburg. The now-defunct Bidvest Wits would then lure him back to the City of Gold in 2014, where he earned himself the reputation of being tough as nails and never shying away from a challenge. A leader of men who helped a relatively small club lift the PSL title in the 2016/17 season.
‘Tyson’ was at the peak of his career, regularly featuring for Bafana Bafana, and his leadership abilities on and off the pitch saw him donning the captain’s armband. Interestingly, according to Transfermkt, his value rose from just under R1 million as a starry-eyed 19-year-old teenager to a whopping R19 million 10 years later.
Besides personal accolades like Player of the Season and Player’s Player of the Season with Wits in 2017, he also won the PSL, MTN8 and Telkom Knockout titles. When Wits were folding, he was heralded as a natural-born leader who would bring aerial presence, tactical awareness and goals to his new team. Yes, goals. In his last season with Wits, he registered his name on the scoresheet five times, making him the complete defender. Naturally, there would be plenty of suitors for his services. But, the next plausible move was ‘at home’. At the Buccaneers.
“I have said before that I would like to join Orlando Pirates one day. I am happy that day has finally come,” he said after signing for Bucs in 2020.
The 32-year-old soon realised his childhood dreams as prophesied by a man who was part of the Pirates Class of ‘95 that defied all odds to annex the Africa Champions Cup.
Jozef Zinnbauer, then head coach of Pirates, was quick to assign him, captain. Sadly, things went south when his performances were jittery and did not exhibit the cadence that had made him a household name at Wits.
Former Bucs skipper Edward ‘Magents’ Motale believes the captaincy came a little too early. Motale, who has marshalled the Bucs army at some point, knows too well Pirates is not like any other club.
“I think the players didn’t welcome him 100% because they already had a captain Happy Jele, but he was stripped of the captaincy, and Hlatshwayo was made captain on his arrival,” Motale tells FARPost.
After experiencing a hugely tricky campaign, he became a regular feature on the bench and was altogether dropped from the national team. The dream was seemingly crumbling.
“No, I haven’t lived up to expectations,” he admitted to a local publication not too long ago.
Motale says there’s a considerable amount of pressure that comes with donning the famous black and white jersey. He believes the correct course of action when he joined the club was to have given him less time on the pitch and allowed him to settle in and acclimatise to the culture. The deep end was never going to be good.
“Wits and Pirates’ styles of play are different. I’m not sure what his pure reason for joining the Bucs was. He turned down many PSL teams who wanted his signature,” Motale adds.
Of course, ‘Magents’ does not believe Hlatshwayo has turned into a bad player overnight, despite some shaky performances.
He is backing him to bounce back from what has been a brutal campaign but insists he must continue to work hard to recover from his recent woes.
“He has lost his captaincy and call-ups on Bafana and lost his place on the Buccaneers starting eleven. I think he must train hard and hope for the best.”
The 55-year-old, who promised to reach out to Tyson, revealed that many players go through this situation and worsen it by keeping it to themselves.
“To deal with this problem, Hlatshwayo should open up about his situation and struggles as Pirates. It will help him heal fast. These boys tend to bottle up their secrets, which damages them mentally, and they end up losing focus.”
With no appearances for Bucs in any competition this year, it remains to be seen whether he will bounce back and live to fulfil Tso’s prophecy!
