SA’S SPECIAL ONE

The enigma that is Rulani Mokwena

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena is a man of steely determination. He can be raucous on the field, but has become rather quiet in front of the media. When interviewed, he pauses before answering a question and thoughtfully rubs his clean-shaven cheeks in a manner reminiscent of Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, who at least has a beard to rub.

There has been a lot of gossip, some amusing, some vindictive, about Mokwena’s perceived attempts to fashion himself on the Spaniard, to the point of affecting a slightly Spanish accent and sitting on a cooler box instead of in the assigned seating area for coaches, just as Guardiola does.

Mokwena went as far as comparing himself to Guardiola and José Mourinho at an Orlando Pirates press conference some years ago. He was flamed for it, but that was then. Given his successes, right now no-one is making fun of Mokwena.

As for his quiet demeanour, whether this too is cultivated, Mokwena has honed it well. While his pre-match pep talks are as fiery as they come, when the final whistle blows he tries to stay calm, whatever the outcome.

A little happy

After his team trounced Al Ahly 5-2 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on March 11 and the players bounded joyously around the field, Mokwena, while admittedly looking a little happy, kept his cool, telling the media: “We haven’t done anything miraculous or anything out of the ordinary.”

Perhaps five goals do not a miracle make, but many would agree that Mokwena’s career has been very much out of the ordinary.

For a start, he did not retire from playing, as is generally the norm with soccer coaches. At 36, Mokwena’s age, most players are still playing and many coaches are a lot older when they peak.

Mokwena bucks these trends. He comes from soccer royalty — son of Julius Sono and nephew of Jomo Sono and grandson of another Orlando Pirates legend, Eric “Scara” Sono — and apparently showed promise as a young player. However, he suffered an injury that nullified this choice of career. So he studied sport science and took his first position as a coach of youth team Platinum Stars in 2007, when he was barely old enough to shave.

Calvin Johnson, who helped train a raw, 20-year-old Mokwena to train others, said even then it was obvious the fledgling coach wanted to be in charge. But during their long association with junior teams, Johnson said despite Mokwena’s obvious ambition, he never tried to undermine anyone and simply wanted to learn as much as he could from everyone he encountered.

In 2014 Mokwena was given an assistant coaching position at Sundowns. As secondin-command to the legendary Pitso Mosimane, this is when people really started to take notice of the wide-eyed youth. His first stint there was fairly short, however. In 2017 he accepted the assistant coach job at Orlando Pirates, the team most closely associated with his father and uncle.

Whether his famous family helped ease Mokwena into the coaches’ enclosure is a moot point, despite the words of AmaZulu coach Ayanda Dlamini. In 2020, when he was the same age as Mokwena is now, Dlamini said in a New Frame interview:

“The biggest challenge when it comes to young and inexperienced coaches is getting that break into the industry. For South African coaches to grow they need to be given an opportunity to showcase their skills in coaching. This will not only help coaches, but will help the South African football standard grow and we will no longer depend on foreign coaches.”

Speaking of foreign coaches, while Mokwena served under Serbia-born Milutin Sredojevic at Orlando Pirates, he was frequently accused by commentators of undermining his superior, reportedly once going so far as to push Sredojevic back into his seat so he would be the one standing and issuing instructions to players.

Do Mokwena’s drive, vigilance and single-mindedness as a coach on the rise have anything to do with him having not, like most of his peers, once been a star player? Only his therapist, if he had one, could answer this, but it is interesting that he agreed to do a “sexy” photo shoot in December for Nounouche, the South African online magazine that describes itself as being “for the brave, ambitious, independent, confident, strong and for the go-getters”.

‘Unusual’ for a coach

Many of Mokwena’s fans would agree he’d be at least a finalist if there were a beauty contest for the world’s best-looking coaches, but it is usually players who are objectified in this way. Many twitterati commented on how “unusual” it was for a coach to be featured in such a way. Perhaps it’s simply something Mokwena missed out on when his playing career ended prematurely. Perhaps he is simply making up for the loss of idolatry on the field.

Mokwena’s commitment to his players has never been in question, however. Every time he is interviewed he gives them all the credit. Sometimes a coach like this can be caught between a rock and a hard place. Regarding a recent scandal, he at first refused to comment on Sundowns players Andile Jali and Sipho Mbule reportedly arriving at training under the influence of alcohol. When the matter went on record, he spoke out in a tactful, unbiased and diplomatic manner, saying footballers are human beings and have weaknesses, and he would have any player’s back when he erred, but not at the expense of the club.

Whether he is an abrasive disrupter or a calm conqueror, people remain divided. In his previous job assisting Mosimane at Sundowns, Mokwena’s behaviour was never criticised. He deferred at all times to his mentor and the two remain respectful of each other.

Mosimane was perhaps the first to recognise his real potential as a coach.

When Mokwena became caretaker coach of Pirates after Sredojevic’s departure in 2019, Mosimane said: “He has been looking for that and he’s got the opportunity to do it now. I told you guys when he was still next to me that he’s going to be better than me in the future.”

In 2020 Mokwena returned to Sundowns. His mentor, Mosimane, had accepted an offer from Egyptian superhero team Al Ahly and Mokwena was engaged alongside Manqoba Mngqithi as co-head coach of Sundowns.

Any strong personalities given equal authority in such a competitive environment are going to butt heads, and though they seemed to work well together, Mokwena was without doubt louder and more visible, which might partly explain why Sundowns management appointed him as the club’s head coach in October 2022.

Cassius Mailula

Mokwena began introducing changes, contradicting those who said his success rested only on the foundation Mosimane built. The team Mosimane left is different in many ways to the one Mokwena coaches now, one change being the trust Mokwena has shown in young striker Cassius Mailula, who has scored 14 goals. Mokwena’s record, as brief as it is, includes 17 victories and two draws in 19 matches.

Sundowns’ win over Al Ahly last week was particularly telling. The team moulded by Mosimane was defeated by that coached by his protégé. All the chatter about his being courted by major league North African clubs and for the top spot in South Africa — that of Bafana Bafana coach — might be little more than idle rumour, but these murmurings prove Mokwena is a lot more than just a pretty face. If Mamelodi Sundowns win the CAF Champions League (which is well within their grasp), Mokwena may be asked to pose for a centrefold.

All the chatter about his being courted by major league North African clubs and for the top spot in South Africa — that of Bafana Bafana coach — might be little more than idle rumour, but these murmurings prove Mokwena is a lot more than just a pretty face