It must be tough being Thulani Hlatshwayo. The tough-as-teak defender, who answers to the Tyson moniker, has faced many battles against tricky strikers twisting and turning like slithery snakes on sunbaked sand in a bid to breach his defence and bang a goal.
After coming through the Ajax Cape Town youth, as one of the products of the long production pipeline of the famed Ikamva Academy, Hlatshwayo graduated to the first team of the satellite Ajax Amsterdam.
He became part of a team teeming with fellow graduates who became a collective that captured the imagination of the nation, as they wantonly terrorised opponents in fields across the country, as the Urban Warriors — playing a style steeped in Dutch principles — announced themselves as a force to be reckoned with.
Among those teammates were the lanky last line of defence, the dependable gloveman Hans Vonk; the silky midfield magnet Thulani Serero; and the foxy forward Khama Billiat. The duo of Serero and Billiat was the driving force behind the league title chase that went down to the wire, as the then Foppe de Haan-coached Cape side were pipped to the post by Orlando Pirates during the late 2000s.
Contribution to a crowning moment
They went their separate ways, as greener pastures called — Serero to the Amsterdam parent club and Billiat to Mamelodi Sundowns. Hlatshwayo’s big transfer also arrived, and Bidvest Wits became his new home. He became part of the university club’s storied history and contributed to its crowning moment in Gavin Hunt’s Premier Soccer League 2016-17 title-winning side.
His efforts towards the club’s cause were evident when the Students satiated their appetite for silverware by adding the Nedbank Cup to their trophy collection in 2020.
It turned out to be the final hurrah, as the curtain was drawn on the club that played out of the compact Milpark Stadium, when Bidvest announced it had reached an agreement for the sale of the outfit’s top-flight status to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM).
With that a century of football heritage — a glorious chapter of the local game — was flushed out of memory. Suddenly, Hlatshwayo, a Bafana Bafana captain at the time, was homeless. Pirates came calling and took him on board. It was not long before the man who bears a resemblance to Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi was let go by the Buccaneers.
He reunited with Hunt at SuperSport United, the club the longest-serving coach in South African football had previously led to three league titles in a row between 2008 and 2010.
Crosstown rivals
The Hunt and Hlatshwayo reunion was at a SuperSport which had become a selling club, happy to let go of their best assets to the deep pocketed crosstown rivals in the capital, Sundowns. Dennis Onyango, Elias Pelembe, Antony Laffor, Hlompho Kekana, Grant Kekana, Aubrey Modiba, Teboho Mokoena, Sipho Mbule, Ronwen Williams are but 10 players who moved from the blue of Matsatsantsa to the mellow yellow of Masandawana.
This week, the SuperSport that survived relegation by the skin of its teeth, is no more, wiped from the face of the earth by the sale of its status to Siwelele FC, owned by Calvin le John, son of minister of sports, arts and culture, Gayton McKenzie.
Hlatshwayo is again homeless.
The Tshakuma that bought Wits wilted faster than you could say go. In its stead mushroomed Marumo Gallants. Mpumalanga Black Aces became Cape Town City that was relegated last season. The Royal AM that bought Bloemfontein Celtic became Sars FC in the most comical saga of the merry-go-round circus of selling of clubs’ status like vetkoek on a wintry Highveld.
It would be interesting if there’d be room for foreign footballers at Siwelele FC. If Le John subscribes to the “abahambe” school of thought preached by his father from the Patriotic Alliance pulpit, there will be no non-South Africans crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s to join the new baby on the Betway Premiership block.
X-@bbkunplugged99
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