Orlando Pirates defender Thabiso Sesane has credited Rulani Mokwena’s assistant coach at Wydad Sinethemba Badela as one of the people that got him to believe in himself and abilities again.
Sesane has been an integral part of Pirates’ unbeaten streak in the league and has also featured for the Buccaneers in all competitions this season, a far cry from the number of appearances he made last season.
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The 24-year-old opened up to iDiski Times senior writer Velile Mnyandu in edition 179 about how he met Badela at a kasi tournament and how the coach trusted his gut to play him at the back while on loan at now-defunct Cape Town All Stars.
Sesane added that he has always told Badela how grateful he is that his belief in him as a player also brought back his confidence.
“He has known me from the days the team was still based in Cape Town and from my days in kasi [township] football while I was at Pirates,” Sesane told iDiski Times.
“He wanted me to come play for Black Poison but when Pirates found out we were playing in the kasi tournament, they called a meeting and warned us not to play there. We were disciplined so that’s where my relationship with coach Themba started.
“When I got to All Stars, I mean even when I think about that team now, if it was still around, I think it would have revived a lot of players. I felt at home when I got there. He also told me that the management didn’t want him to play me at centre-back because I was short and had a small body frame. But he said none of that counts. He was going to play me in that position.
“My first game was against Polokwane Rovers away, we won and had a clean sheet. He called me to the side and he told me how proud he was of me and even the management as well. That’s why I’m saying when I think about All Stars, I want to cry. When I look at my pictures from All Stars, I get emotional, and I call coach Themba sometimes and we talk about All Stars and how I’m doing.
“He is so proud of me. I didn’t just take him as my coach, he was like my father. I always tell him how grateful I am because he found me when my confidence was at a low and he brought it back. The team being sold hurt me and other guys that I played with there.”
