Former Bafana Bafana, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs star striker Siyabonga “Bhele” Nomvethe has revealed he nearly joined Mamelodi Sundowns from African Wanderers.
Nomvethe, 44, made his name as part of the exciting Abaqulusi side where he was part of a breathtaking attacking trio with Phumlani “BMX” Mkhize and Sibusiso “Rhee” Zuma in the late nineties.
The former U23 attacker said he met with former Sundowns bosses Natasha and Angelo Tsichlas and Peter Koutroulis at Chloorkop but the move never materialised.
Instead, Nomvethe would later join Kaizer Chiefs while his partners Mkhize and Zuma went in the direction of Pirates as bigger clubs stripped Wanderers of its talent.
Nomvethe continued to impress at Chiefs and later earned a move to Italian side Udinese. Zuma moved to Denmark to join FC Copenhagen where he enjoys cult status.
“When I was at PSL with African Wanderers, I was earning R2,000 and some of the guys in the team said to me I am doing the job but I not getting what is due to me,” he said.
“They said you can’t earn R2,000 while some people who are sitting on the bench are earning R3,000 and I agreed with them. I missed maybe five days of training sessions because I was at Sundowns to meet Natasha, Angelo and Peter.
“We had discussions and they told me straight that they wanted to sign me because I have everything that they wanted. They said if they have my clearance certificate, they will pay me R8,000.
“From R2,000 to R8,000 was a good adjustment but the guys at Wanderers found out that I was meeting with Sundowns, they phoned me to return home and [said] they will give me whatever I wanted.
“I returned to Durban and they gave me R4,500 and I was happy with it.”
Nomvethe indicated he also joined Chiefs because he had a better chance of playing.
“When I calculated, I said to myself Chiefs have the late Marc Batchelor and Pollen Ndlanya. I knew I will fight and also my advantage was that they (Batchelor and Ndlanya) are older than me.
“What also contributed to my decision was the fact that the late goalkeeper Arthur Bartman was at Chiefs and I knew him from our days at African Wanderers.”
Nomvethe said Pirates also approached him but there was too much competition for attackers at the club.
“Pirates wanted three of us but I didn’t want to follow Zuma and Mkhize because they had players like Denis Lota, Jerry Skhosana and Joseph Ngake and I knew that I wasn’t going to play there.
“Competition was too high at Pirates but not that high at Chiefs and I knew I was going to have a chance to compete with my speed and whatever I have.”
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