Former Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele has hailed the rise of Thabiso Sesane at the club having first hand witnessed his transformation as a youngster into the first team.
Jele, the record appearance-making for the club, eclipsing the 400-game milestone and over a decade with the Buccaneers has revelled in Sesane’s progression.
He was spotted earlier this month visiting the injured defender, who has been one of their standout players this campaign in the heart of Jose Riveiro’s defence.
This after taking the chance to establish himself after an injury to vice-captain Tapelo Xoki and later Olisa Ndah, with whom he formed a solid defence partnership alongside and later with Nkosinathi Sibisi following the injury to the Nigeria international.
“Sesane has developed so much, I know him since he was promoted to the first team, many others know him now in the last 12 months [he’s stepped up], he’s been there for a long time and the team knew he was a great player,” Jele told iDiski Times at the Adidas Predator event in Johannesburg.
“They wanted to build up and that’s why he had to go on loan and come back, they saw the potential he had, me as a senior player at the time; I told him when the day comes, you will grab the chance.
“I was once in his shoes – when I arrived at Pirates, I didn’t play for two or three seasons, learning, when I got an opportunity, Seema left, Tonic left, it’s when I raised my hand and started to play.
“So even him, I left the team, some players got injured and he’s raised his hand to say I’m ready now after three seasons of not playing. The way he’s doing it’s surprised me as well, he’s doing something fabulous.”
The 24-year-old racked up 29 games for the first team, every single game this season, before suffering an achilles tendon rupture against Sekhukhune United.
