Monnapule Saleng’s agent Karabo Mathang-Tshabuse has addressed the player’s situation with Orlando Pirates for the first time publicly, stating Saleng’s mental fitness did not match his physical fitness last season.
Saleng, 27, has been loaned out to ORBIT College this season in a bid to revive his career. The 2023/24 Players’ Player of the Season and MTN8 Last Man Standing only played a bit-part role for the Buccaneers last campaign, with many being left in the dark what really happened.
Thabuse, a FIFA accredited of P Management, has now opened up on the topic, saying Saleng was going through some personal stuff, which also affected his mental well-being.
“We see Monnapule Saleng saying ‘I’m not ok’ on that GIANTS show. That is already an answer in itself,” she told Mazola Molefe on Behind the Boot.
“It was a season where mental fitness was not matching physical fitness. So what do I need to do? I need to to look after my client.
“It’s not my role to go to the media and give explanations why he’s not on the pitch. What I like is from the GIANTS show, Saleng is live in saying ‘I am not okay’ – granted people are only getting it after the fact, after the speculation where he is, does he really want to be there.
“And I’m only speaking about it now because the employer [Pirates] has commissioned this to show that he was not okay. So doesn’t it call for a deeper pause from us? To say ‘When we don’t understand, maybe we don’t have to kill the guy on social media and attack him’.
“The situation was multilayered – we are expected as players to be in top physical condition, but we go through things, we go through a loss, we go through grief, we’re human – it’s not my place to say what he went into.
“[But] I can now say because he said on that show he’s not okay, that yes, it was a season where different kind of support was required for the player. And I think it just snowballed into more things…
Thabuse also criticised the reaction Saleng and her agency received on social media, especially after it was claimed his absence was linked to salary issues or the player wanting to move clubs.
“There was a storm brewing within him that he needed space to recover. And he needed the audience to just hold the line for him,” she continued.
“Unfortunately as much as social media can be powerful to build, it can be powerful to exacerbate a situation… So we find ourselves now having to explain a season where people were just ruthless in.
“I then decided [for myself] I can’t comment because I can’t say my client needs the mental fitness to be where his physical fitness is. We decided rather to say this is an employer-employee issues – that’s the one statement I took out.
“My priority in that season was to look after the well-being of my client and to make sure that whatever distress he is in is not getting deeper.”
She did highlight that there were no contractual issues between Saleng and Pirates, insisting the club can also not be faulted in how they handled the situation.
“There was no contractual issue between Orlando Pirates and Saleng – Orlando Pirates and Saleng brokered a very good deal,” Thabuse added.
“A deal that really helps Saleng to do a multitude of things, including buying property. Orlando Pirates can never be faulted on that score. It can also not be faulted on what the player went through.
“There was a time where the club said ‘go, recover from whatever you need to recover’ and there was a time where the club said ‘come back’ and his request was ‘I need more time’.
“Towards the second half of the season there was a lot more ‘off-time’ than ‘on-time’ but that is again not to anybody’s fault. I think the parties were trying to accommodate each other.”
Saleng has made six appearances for ORBIT College this season, setting up his first goal in their 1-1 draw with Marumo Gallants last weekend.
