An old picture of a Kaizer Chiefs player – who resembles ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula – has gone viral. But did the politician actually play for Amakhosi?
DID FIKILE MBALULA PLAY FOR KAIZER CHIEFS?
In a tweet posted on Monday, 29 April, Fikile Mbalula retweeted a viral post of an image of a Kaizer Chiefs player.
It read: “Ama2000s don’t know that Fikile Mbalula played for the Glamour Boys”.
He captioned the tweet: “Abayazi [they don’t know]. Hulle weet nie wat ons weet [They don’t know what we know]”.
The image resembled a man who looked like a young Fikile Mbalula. However, the soccer star in the pic was actually the late Fortune Koloba, who played for the club in the nineties.
Tragically, the striker – nicknamed “Chilliboy,” died in a car crash in 2011. Kaizer Chiefs suffered a blow a week earlier when co-founder Thomas Johnson died of prostrate cancer, reported the Sowetan.
According to IOL, Koloba appeared in court in 2007 on charges of robbery. The retired soccer star and two others were accused of robbing a man of his gun and bank cards.
WHICH TEAM DOES HE SUPPORT?
While Fikile Mbalula never played soccer professionally, he loves to watch it.
The former Minister of Sport has made no secret that he is a die-hard Orlando Pirates supporter.
He once tweeted: “I don’t respect people who change allegiances when their teams are facing challenges. I’ve been a Pirates supporter through thick and thin. Please stay with your club”.
And just like many Buccaneers, he also has a fierce rivalry with Mamelodi Sundowns.
HARSH WORDS FOR BAFANA BAFANA
In 2014, Fikile Mbalula – then sports minister – lambasted Bafana Bafana as a “bunch of losers” after their dismal performance in the African Nations Championship.
The South African team crashed out of the tournament in the group stages of the compeition.
Speaking in a media conference after their elimination on home turf, Fikile said: “What I saw was not a problem of coaching; it was a bunch of losers.
Images via X:
@mbalulafikile/ @bafanabafana
“Their performance was not even lacklustre; it was useless. We must go to the drawing board. That mediocrity that was displayed yesterday [Sunday] … we must never wake up to that again.”
Fikile harshly added that he had “refused to greet” the team after their defeat to Nigeria.
“I felt like just standing up and walking out. I saw people lining up after the game to greet them …
“I won’t greet them. I didn’t even call them”