Elias Mokwana is a very shy guy. So shy is the Bafana Bafana winger that he was inclined to turn down this rare exclusive interview as he revealed he’s not used to media attention.
But Mokwana deserves the spotlight as a few people knew him before Hugo Broos included him in the Bafana squad last season while still playing for Sekhukhune United — before his shock move to Tunisian giants Esperance at the start of the 2024-2025 campaign.
Mokwana’s move to Esperance came amid speculation that he was destined for Kaizer Chiefs, the club he grew up supporting. He still hopes to play for Amakhosi, and says their slump in the last 10 years will “come to end one day”.
I met Mokwana at Bafana’s hotel — The Ranch — in Polokwane yesterday, a day after he helped the team beat Lesotho 2-0 in the fifth round of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers. He provided the assist for Relebohile Mofokeng to open the scoring.
However, professional football was not Mokwana’s only dream. He enrolled at Tshwane University of Technology in 2019 but could not finish the course. “I was doing sports science but had to drop out because of lack of support from NSFAS. Umagogo (his mother, Margaret) wanted me to go to school but after two months things with NSFAS weren’t succeeding. That’s when I told her, ‘this is not happening, I’m going to play professional football.’ She said: ‘Hamba mntanami sobona phambili’ [go my child we’ll see what happens].”
Mokwana first went to Platinum City Rovers in the ABC Motsepe [third tier] league. “We got promoted to the national first division, which is where Sekhukhune [United] picked me.”
Mokwana’s special relationship with umagogo comes from the last words his father Thomas, an Orlando Pirates fan, left with him with before he passed on in 2017. “My mother [who turns 60 this year] is the one I’ve been close to after losing my father. I was the last person to speak to my father and he told me I must look after her, and that’s why I’m so close to her.”
Sharing his dream
Playing at the World Cup has always been Mokwana’s dream and, if he had his way, he would have been there with Bafana in 2022. “I always tell people, and there are even posts in my Facebook account where I shared my dream to play for Bafana Bafana in a World Cup. My dream was to play in 2022, but we failed to make it. We now have another chance in 2026, and I’m really happy that I’ve taken a step to realise my dream. I won’t let anyone stand in my way to achieving that. I’ll fight until the end.”
Mokwana highlighted Broos’s influence on the team, which the Belgian took to the Africa Cup of Nations podium last year in Ivory Coast, where they finished third. “He’s been like a father figure to us. I like the way he makes us play. He just understands us and plays players to their strengths. We also want to go to the World Cup for him as a way to say ‘thank you for giving us this opportunity’.”
Mokwana’s assist against Lesotho on Friday was vital. It came when everyone was looking at the clock and starting to panic that a 0-0 draw was inevitable, as Likuena were resolute in defence. “I guess in the first half I wasn’t doing well, but at half-time Tebza [midfielder Teboho Mokoena] and Ronza [skipper Ronwen Williams] told me to take them on.”
Mokwana believes Bafana will qualify for the World Cup, as long as they focus on winning their five remaining games. “I think we must not pay much attention to the other teams, as long as we win our games.
[Broos] has been like a father figure to us. I like the way he makes us play. He just understands us and plays players to their strengths
— Elias Mokwana, SA and Esperance winger
“We have four games left at home [including away matches against Zimbabwe and Lesotho, who play their home matches in South Africa], and have a chance to collect those points. I don’t think the pressure from Nigeria will affect us. As long as we win our games we’ll be fine. Nigeria have their own job and we’ll do the same, winning our own games.”
Fans rally behind Bafana
Bafana support is back — they now enjoy capacity crowds whenever they play. Mokwana says the fans deserves to be happy and players are motivated to maintain their form. “I think it’s [having full crowds) a good thing and it pushes us, as you saw yesterday [Friday] when the game was 0-0, the crowd kept on pushing you.
“As a player, you’ll then have that courage to fight more to make them happy because they pay that money to come and watch us. Also, the spirit in the camp... we’re like brothers. The love is too much in this team. Every time I come here I’m just happy. Everyone is smiling and I think that also contributes to us winning our matches.”
Mokwana has been doing well at Esperance, contributing two goals and two assists to help them stay number one in the Legue I Pro. It is, however, the Caf Champions League that Mokwana is eyeing most, and he can’t wait for the quarterfinal clash against Mamelodi Sundowns — with the first leg set for April 1 in Pretoria. “My goal is to win the Champions League with Esperance, that is the main priority,” says Mokwana, who has scored three goals and provided two assists in six games in the Champions League.
“It’s going to be a good match, and I think it’s two great teams coming up against each other. But I don’t want to make wrong pronouncements. It will be a good game and I think both teams have great players. It’s a final before the final. Whoever wants it the most will win it.”
But how is Mokwana finding life in Tunis, being the first South African to play there? “It was hard at the beginning, but I had to get used to it because you’re far away from home. When I speak to Umagogo, she says kuzolunga (all will be well) my son.”
In teammates and midfielders Abdramane Konate from Ivory Coast and Onuche Ogbelu from Nigeria, Mokwana has found close friends. “Those are the two I spend most of my time with. We normally go out to the beach where I spend most of my time.”
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