Newly signed Royal AM defender Mthokozisi Dube has broken his silence on his exit from Orlando Pirates.
Dube was released by the Soweto giants at the end of last term upon his return from a loan stint with Golden Arrows also in KwaZulu-Natal.
The 30-year-old, who has signed a two-year deal with Royal AM, was at Arrows on loan for three seasons, starting in 2020/21, even though he was key part of Pirates side that was the runners-up in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons under coach Milutin Sredojevic.
He was also part of the side that lost the Telkom Knockout in the 2018/19 season to Baroka FC, but feels he doesn’t have much regrets over his time at Orlando Stadium.
“Orlando Pirates, it was a good journey for me. I appreciate everything that they did,” said Dube, who was on the bench when Royal AM drew with Chippa United over the weekend.
“I wouldn’t say I regret everything. I can say I learnt a lot from the experience there and I hope I take what I learnt and come and make this team better.”
Dube says joining Royal AM is like coming home because he’s familiar with the surroundings at the club. He was previously on loan to Royal Eagles in 2013 until 2015, the club that was co-owned by Shauwn Mkhize and her ex-husband Sbu Mpisane.
Some players at Bloemfontein Celtic he played with in 2015 until 2017, including working with coach Abram Nteo when he was on loan too from Pirates.
Bloemfontein Celtic became non-existent after Mkhize bought their status at the beginning of last term to form Royal AM.
“This is where I started when it was still Royal Eagles,” said Dube of coming back to the familiar surroundings.
“The chairlady and [general manager Richard] Makhoba – I knew them a long time ago because I worked with them. For me this is sort of like home from being back here.”
Royal AM next face a struggling Kaizer Chiefs side at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday (17:30), with Amakhosi having not scored or won in 2023.
Unlike Chiefs, Royal AM have won once this year in four matches under coach Nteo and are lying 10th on the log table with 21 points after 17 matches.
“The team is struggling but things are going to be okay,” said Dube.
“It’s just a few things we need to work on, but I believe with the quality we have we will fix things and finish in the higher position on the log.”
