Former Bafana Bafana man Teko Modise has shared his opinion on what he feels has been the derailment of football in KwaZulu-Natal.
The now-retired Modise played for four top-flight clubs during his time and was even crowned back-to-back footballer of the season in 2008 and 2009 in the colours of Orlando Pirates.
He and the rest of the South African football fraternity have witnessed the continuous underachieving of the KZN-based clubs for several years now. Given the volume and quality of players hailing from the province, it would not have been irresponsible for a club from that part of the world to challenge for league honours.
However, that dream is yet to be realised and doesn’t seem to be in the vision of the six clubs representing the province from both the DStv Premiership and the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
AmaZulu were the closest side to coming near that feat when they fell short of Mamelodi Sundowns in the 2020/2021 campaign and in the process qualified for their first-ever participation in the CAF Champions League.
Since then Usuthu have been in regression, joining the likes of Golden Arrow, Royal AM and Richards Bay in their repeated efforts to either make the top eight or avoid relegation.
The last time KZN celebrated any major silverware was in 2009 through Arrows’ MTN8 triumph, although AmaZulu came close in 2022. The 41-year-old made an appearance at a Hollywoodbets event in Durban and shared his views with KZN media.
The 2016 CAF Champions League winner expressed that the type of squads put together by KZN clubs is an indication of their intent and that has been their downfall.
“I think it’s the ambition, to be honest with you, because look at the type of signings that the Durban teams do; they’re always signing players that are not playing somewhere else to come and play here,” said Modise.
“So, you never really have the core team that wants to play. So, in essence, you’re taking rejects from other teams to come and play here.”
Teko also feels the clubs have moved away from a formula that included investing huge trust in homegrown players which causes an imbalance in players playing with honour.
“I don’t think that works for the teams. When Golden Arrows was Golden Arrows Abafana Bes’thende, they had players from here,” he said.
He added: “There’s a lot of talent in Durban if you can go back to the rural areas in the communities and find players from Durban here. One thing is they’ve got a pride to play for Durban teams. So, you want players who have pride to play for these teams.
“And if that can be fixed … I’m not saying they shouldn’t sign players from other teams. But they should find balance. Other players from other teams shouldn’t overpower the players that are from Durban.”