Orlando Pirates have penned a heartfelt farewell message to Relebohile Mofokeng after his arrival in Belgium was confirmed by his new club, Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.
Mofokeng, 21, joined the Jupiler Pro League giants in deal which was already concluded before the 2026 FIFA World Cup where the attacking player helped Bafana Bafana make history.
But on Thursday, St. Gilloise finally unveiled Mofokeng with a series of eye-catching social media posts. Pirates, who had already announced the transfer on Wednesday, then shared a special thank you message to ‘President Yama 2k’.
As part of the message, Pirates revealed that Mofokeng could’ve left Mayfair ahead of last season already but promised chairman Irvin Khoza to stay in a bid to help the club lift the Betway Premiership title – which indeed they did.
“And then there is the thing we must not forget. The thing that reveals, more than any goal or assist, exactly who this young man is and today Orlandopiratesfc.com can reveal the secret.
“Relebohile could have left last year. The interest was there. The door was open. But what did he do? He chose to stay — not for money, not for comfort, but because he wanted to win the league for this club and for its supporters.
“In his own words: “Chairman, I am not worried about overseas now. I want to give it my all this season and try win this league for the club. This is my only focus right now. If overseas happens after that, then good but for now, let me do all I can to make the supporters happy.”
That promise was ultimately fulfilled, with Mofokeng appearing very emotional after the Buccaneers’ final match of the 2025/26 season, which what many did not know at the time would be his final match for the Sea Robbers.
For now, Mofokeng is taking his career to Europe, and to a club, who have former Pirates assistant Chris O’Loughlin as Sporting Director and Shawn Bishop – former Mamelodi Sundowns Head of Academy – working as Head of Methodology at the club.
O’Loughlin famously gave Benni McCarthy one of his first coaching gigs as his assistant at Sint-Truidense, while St. Gilloise also lured Percy Tau on loan in 2018/19 when the South African helped the side to regain promotion to the top flight.
It appears, Mofokeng is in good hands, and he also has the prospect of UEFA Champions League football, with St. Gilloise entering the competition in the third, and final, qualification round before the League phase.