Former Bafana Bafana and Moroka Swallows winger Japhet Zwane reveal how coach Pitso Mosimane gave him an idea that led to his salary being raised from R1800 to R6000.
The 51-year-old began his career in the topflight with the now-defunct Manning Rangers where he excelled and earned a move to Moroka Swallows. He continued to shine at Swallows, earning his first national team call-up and a move to Russian side FC Rostov.
He had a chance to play for Kaizer Chiefs after garnering their attention during the BOB Save Super Bowl clash against Vaal Professionals while he was playing for Phoenix City in 1999, a club he got promoted from the lower ranks to the national first division.
After two weeks of training, he ran away from the Chiefs camp following a chat with his father that led to them assessing his chances of getting game time ahead of Robson Muchichwa who was already a household name.
Zwane said he became a laughing stock when it was revealed that he earns a low salary that his colleagues occasionally spend on dinner dates.
“If I can tell you, my first season at Rangers, I was earning R1800 while others were earning R15 000… and they were telling me that we spend your salary on taking out our families for dinner,” he said on Ntokozo’s Kickoff podcast.
“The person who assisted me [to escape the situation] was coach Pitso Mosimane, he asked how much I was getting paid, I told him and then he said he could give me a salary of R12 000 per month. He said I’ll give you R50 000, stop going to training [with Rangers] and stay at home.
“I thought to myself if I take the money ([from Pitso] I’ll be forced to join SuperSport United. I decided to use his idea to stay at home and stop training. I told coach Gordon Igesund that this was what I was earning, and I was promised that it would increase as I continued playing.
The increment didn’t happen because the then-owner of the club who he had an agreement had sold the team and relocated to New Zealand. The new management showed him the signed contract and was adamant about not raising his income.
It took Igesund’s intervention to get a raise after he applied pressure on management.
“During the start of the new season, I decided to stay home and not return to training with the team. The coach called a meeting together with management and they told me that they would increase my salary by 100% which I refused until we agreed on R6000.
Upon hanging his boots, Zwane took on the role of team manager at AmaZulu before starting his coaching career. He coached Golden Arrows’ DStv Diski Challenge team where he got midfielder Siyanda Mthanti promoted to the first team.