OUT of all the Premier Soccer League (PSL) 2024/2025 midseason signings, Kaizer Chiefs arguably caught the biggest fishes with the arrivals of Durban-born midfielder Thabo Cele and the Congolese forward Makabi Lilepo.
Both players were announced by the Naturena-based club at the end of January along with Tashreeq Morris.
Cele went on to play 11 league matches and Lilepo 14 but their biggest achievement of the season was helping their side win the Nedbank Cup – ending the 10-year trophy silverware drought for the Soweto giants.
“My coming to Kaizer Chiefs was under one mission; that is to win trophies. We know that Kaizer Chiefs is the biggest club in the country. Even though we haven’t been winning trophies, everyone knows that Chiefs is a team of trophies,” Cele remarked to the Durban media that attended the launch of his off-season youth games in his township of KwaMashu on Thursday.
The Thabo Thalente Games, which the Chiefs midfielder started with his Orlando Pirates counterpart and neighbour (they both come from G-Section in KwaMashu) Thelente Mbatha, consist of four sporting codes; football as the flagship, followed by netball, chess and umlabalaba.
“This program is more about trying to assist in finding solutions for our society against the ills. As we start, not everything is clear and we were not even sure of the right time but as you can see, people are appreciating the initiative. The vision is to help the community and especially the young ones and go beyond many generations,” said Cele.
Explaining the reason to go beyond football with their initiative: “In KwaMashu, football is the number one sport. As a matter of fact, football is number one in the whole world. So we thought it would be beautiful to open it wider and accommodate other sporting codes. I find myself growing interested in more sporting codes; I find myself watching tennis and your Tour de France and so on. The aim is to bring people together, so we tried to include everyone.
“We want people to take initiative and embrace this project as theirs, it belongs to them and their community. The growth of it is upon them.”
Indeed there may have been no better time for Cele and Mbatha to start something of this nature since the 2024/2025 season saw them grow their popularity and meet up in three Soweto derbies.
Cele in particular, has in the past four months of his life at Chiefs, become probably the most popular figure in the dressing room with his coaches and teammates, and fans alike.
“It’s been a blessing (his Chiefs’ life). I am someone who is spiritual, so I do understand that what has happened (for me) in the past six months is not only up to my strengths. It’s been a blessing and I’m grateful also for the people I work with,” said the midfielder.
“At Kaizer Chiefs everyone (who works there) is involved. From the workers who cut the grass for us, the ladies who cook for us all the way to office administrators. All of us contribute to the progress of the team. So yes, the past five to six months have been a blessing.”
With Chiefs though, there’s an elephant in the room – the future of Tunisian coach Nasreddine Nabi. Immediately after winning the Nedbank Cup, there were reports that Nabi was going to be let go and undertake the last season in his two-year contract.
“Things that are spoken outside are simply that, external matters. We focus on what we have to deal with, which is taking the club forward,” Cele responded when probed about the matter.
“Even with what we have achieved, we understand that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“I am very happy for the one cup that we managed to win this season to put an end to that 10-year period without trophies. This will encourage us to challenge for more things (silverware) next season.”
