Rulani Mokwena holds a world record in football history as the only coach to be loaned out, which happened when Orlando Pirates shipped him to Chippa United after a stint as caretaker steward of the Sea Robbers ship.
While some regarded it as ridicule, the former Mamelodi Sundowns coach found that historic moment richly rewarding in refining his coaching regimen.
“When you speak about the loan to Chippa, everybody looks at it in a negative way. But that was probably the most important part of my coaching career.”
How so? “Because I’d never have gotten the platform to refine my coaching and training methodology if I was not at Chippa. When I went to Chippa we had Covid and the lockdown. After the restricted movement, there was a timeframe where we started training and preparing for friendly matches.
I would consider it [if Pirates called]. Unfortunately, I don’t come from a family with a trust fund. I have to work. You don’t turn down working opportunities,
— Rulani Mokwena, ex-coach of Wydad Casablanca
“When that happened, that was me in a science lab playing around with training methodologies — much is overload and underload, when can I do prime matrix and when can I not, the methodology of the style of play. It was such an important time when I look back.
“So, I would not have had an opportunity to use that and get the right type of players and test it in games of non-consequence. That was important for me. I’m really grateful for everything that happened.”
Mokwena has returned to South Africa after his separation as coach of Wydad Casablanca — the most prestigious club in Morocco’s Botola Pro League — following a turbulent first season of his three-year contract.
In Morocco, Mokwena stepped into a house steeped in division. He got caught up in a barrage of constant criticism from a band of board members, former players and followers belonging to a faction aligned to their former president who never really warmed up to the ascendency of incumbent Hicham Ait Menna, who appointed Mokwena.
Given the circumstances, the Wydad job was always going to be a poisoned chalice for the 38-year-old coach who cut his teeth at an amateur club called Black Poison.
Despite a torrid time that left him contemplating a sabbatical, Mokwena is determined to be back in the dugout next season. Though he wouldn’t disclose his next destination he doesn’t dismiss his next gig being in the Betway Premier League. To that extent, a vacancy is opening at the Buccaneers following Jose Riveiro’s departure to assume the daunting task of guiding Africa’s most decorated side, Al Ahly of Egypt.
When last, I ask him, did you speak to Irvin Khoza, the chairman of the club that boasts a strong family bond with him? After all, Mokwena is the grandson of Pirates great Eric “Scara” Sono, father of Pirates legend Jomo “Black Prince” Sono, brother of former Sea Robber Julius “KK” Sono, who is Mokwena’s father. “I don’t remember,” he laughs.
“It’s been a while, the exact time is not so clear in my mind. He’s an incredible man, he’s someone that I hold in very high regard. I have a great appreciation for what he’s done for my career, the very same as [Patrice] Motsepe; they’ve played incredible roles in my development as a coach, leader and person. The investment they’ve made in my career is incredible.”
While his memory is foggy about his last conversation with the Iron Duke because “the iPhone deletes call logs after a while” Mokwena remembers “it was a very pleasant call”.
Staunch Pirates supporter and Rise Mzansi MP Magashule Gana believes Mokwena has unfinished business with his beloved club. “There’s a job that he started [at Pirates] and he did not finish it. I think the giant is awake now, it needs to run now, it came very close,” said Gana of Pirates’s three-times runners-up finishes behind Sundowns during Riveiro’s tenure.
“It would be great for him to be in the PSL next season to finish the job. The time has come for him to rise.”
Mokwena is as cagey about replacing Riveiro but “I would consider it” if Pirates called, he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t come from a family with a trust fund. I have to work. You don’t turn down working opportunities.
“Let’s see what happens within the next few days. There are conversations happening that are strong and present very enticing possibilities to grow, learn and to not just be a better coach but a better person [and] also to work with good people.”
Three-time PSL champions SuperSport United have survived a season from hell. Not only did they miss a top-eight finish for the first time, they also battled relegation for the better part of the campaign, fired Gavin Hunt, and survived by the skin of their teeth under coach Andre Arendse.
“I admire Stan Matthews so much, we’ve had so many conversations about me joining SuperSport in the past. At this point I can say no, there hasn’t been that conversation, but he knows that it would be difficult for me to say no to him.”
In Morocco, Mokwena dived into a toxic environment that forced the tactician into an indefinite social media hiatus. “Disconnecting from the digital world, even briefly, can offer profound benefits to one’s mental clarity and emotional wellbeing, fostering a deeper connection with oneself and the world around us,” the tactician shared on Instagram.
He said he had conversations with himself, and one wonders whether the thought of being a failure at a club he lifted from sixth position to third posting in the standings crosses his mind during that moment of introspection. “No, because failing means doing worse than the average. The average at Wydad was number six.
“I would never undermine God’s grace. At 38 I’ve won league titles… a treble as an assistant coach and as a co-head coach. I’m the only coach who’s won the African Super League against Petro [de Luanda], Al Ahly and Wydad, three strong teams.
“So I would be insulting God’s workmanship if I were to ever, ever, ever try to lean towards that space. I did a lot of introspection. I have learnt a lot about leadership from Khoza and Motsepe. Those two still today call me their son. It is greater than going to Havard school of business.”
So what happened in Morocco?
“Football happened. Sometimes there are things that are beyond your control. I think we did a very good job under the circumstances. History has no blank pages. It does not forget that Wydad is the most established club in Morocco and one of the biggest on the continent. Before this season, Wydad was sixth. That will always be in the history books.
“I would not have gone to Wydad had the [previous] coach done better than that. We are extremely satisfied with being able to compete for a Champions League position and ultimately finish at number three with the squad and the limited resources that we had.”
Mokwena is man enough to own up to his missteps. “At the beginning I wasn’t very clued up with the league, and there were games [where] I made a few mistakes, maybe more mistakes than the players themselves. Some were from officiating mistakes but that’s football… I went there to fix it. It was sink or swim. I think I swam."
It boggles his mind when people expect professionals not to make mistakes. “The reality is that the more mistakes you make, the more you learn. I don’t deliberately make mistakes but I’m very inquisitive, very experimental. I want to know what works and what doesn’t, whether this can happen or can’t. The only way to find out is to try.
“That’s maybe my characteristic that I carry with me, with regard to my coaching philosophy. It’s got a negative side but it also has a positive side. I’m very innovative. I try things and they work and maybe most times they don’t work. I believe to be a top coach, which I work at very hard and aim to become one day, is to experiment and try [new] things. That’s the only way we can grow ourselves and develop the game.
“I look at the work that was done and the foundation that was laid and data backs me up. There were people in the club who were not playing so well, they would use data to support their feelings and their arguments against why they thought we were not playing well.
“If you go back to the number of chances created, opportunities in and around the final third, the amount of possession, the PPDA — a very important part of our playing model which is passes per defensive actions — all these important matrixes that define the way we want football to be played, was incredibly in our favour. Some of our numbers are extreme outliers to the Botola League. They’ve never seen these types of numbers before. That was a platform to build on.
“I had resigned a few weeks before and the president convinced me not to resign. And when there was noise and the season had finished, he was the one that said you have to go to the fans. I don’t think that Ati Menna thinks I should not be at Wydad.”
The 2026 World Cup would be the final hoorah for Belgian silver fox Hugo Broos as Bafana Bafana boss. Does the Bafana proposition whet Mokwena’s appetite? Germany is guided by Julian Nagelsmann, who at 37 is a year younger than Mokwena. “There are coaches who are more senior than I am, who deserve the position,” he proffers.
South Africa has a high rate of recycling coaches. With coaching education one of his passions, Mokwena advocates for younger coaches to step up to the forefront. “That is why I’ve asked coach Themba Badela, he was a player of mine at Black Poison and assistant coach and is part of my technical team now. I’ve asked him to look for avenues to be head coach now because I think the country needs it.
“But also, I’m working on an initiative for a technocrats’ roundtable with registered young up-and-coming coaches to discuss the latest trends. We want it to be professionalised, supported financially because there’s issues of accommodation, transport, facilities, resources, etc.”
The sabbatical has been suspended. “After two, three weeks you’re itching to be on the pitch.”
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