Papi Zothwane’s love affair with the ball that never faded
Papi Zothwane played football like a man solving puzzles before anyone else had seen the pieces. No wonder Teko Modise says the man nicknamed ‘Ginger’ was…
Brandon Petersen: The Elsies River boy who refused to break
Elsies River – the gritty Cape Flats community that shaped Brandon Petersen – lies just 7km from Cape Town International Airport and 18km from the heart of…
Born in struggle, crowned in glory: Farook Kadodia’s football revolution
On a crisp Saturday evening, as confetti rained down and jubilant players lifted the Nedbank Cup high into the South African sky, Farook Kadodia stood at the…
Nicolas Zakhem: The engineer behind Gaborone’s red dreams
A modest engineer from the Middle East – Nicolas Zakhem – is proving that sometimes, the best things in life are born from what, on the surface, appears to…
Forged in Alex, shining in Orlando: The rise of Lebone Seema
For Lebone Seema, the noise has never truly mattered. Like everyone else, he has heard the whispers of those who claim that he is not South African. He has…
Part 2: Benjani Mwaruwari’s whirlwind journey to European football
Benjani Mwaruwari recalls Erwin Zogg shedding tears as he tried to persuade him to persevere with AJ Auxerre. Were it not for Zogg’s tears, Mwaruwari’s…
PART 1: The football jetsetter: Benjani Mwaruwari’s life as seen through his colourful transfers
So convinced was Benjani Mwaruwari that he had not done well in his Ordinary Level school exams that he did not even collect his results when they eventually…
Pitso Mokoena is a man with an eye for talent. Year after year, since the turn of the millennium, he would bring together hundreds of boys just to scan…
Oswin Appollis: The Bishop Lavis boy Tony Magic couldn’t ignore
Oswin Appollis’s football journey began on the unforgiving streets of Bishop Lavis, a place where survival is a daily contest. Here, poverty thickens the…
Hugo Broos slams Orlando Pirates and Mbekezeli Mbokazi
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has publicly criticised Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Orlando Pirates. The Belgian coach was furious about the outgoing Bucs…
A ‘Minister of Defence’… the gospel according to Isheanesu Mauchi
When translated into English, the name Isheanesu means “God is with us.” Watching the tall, gangly defender Isheanesu Mauchi on the football field, it…
Mbekezeli Mbokazi: Born on sand, unearthed by a police officer
Located on a peninsula at the northern end of Lake St Lucia, KwaNibela, a village in rural KwaZulu-Natal that Mbekezeli Mbokazi calls home, can seem like a…
