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At 68, Shakes Mashaba is the eldest club coach across the first and premier divisions, but he clearly still has lots of hunger for the job, which is why he did not hesitate to return to the touchline when NFD campaigners Witbank Spurs yanked him out of the coaching wilderness.
“I am the mkhulu [elder] of coaches,” chuckled the former Bafana Bafana coach, who turns 69 later this year.
He has already overseen three official matches – two victories and a loss – for the Emalahleni-based Spurs since he assumed his new role at the beginning of the year. Prior to being appointed by Spurs, Mashaba’s last involvement at club level dated back to his days at Black Leopards in 2004, before he went on to coach the South African junior and senior national teams for a decade.
“Football is psychological and it’s about two things – defending and attacking,” he noted while he rattled through a long list of local clubs he had previously guided, including Soweto powerhouses Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows.
Mashaba returned to the spotlight on Sunday when Spurs took on premiership campaigners Maritzburg United in the Nedbank Cup Last 32 at Puma Rugby Stadium in Witbank.
The Ke Yona fixture is the battle of NFD and premier division strugglers.
But Mashaba pointed out that the green colours of the Nedbank Cup were something he was familiar with due to his many years of involvement with the banking firm’s famed Ke Yona team search, a development project he holds close to his heart.
“My involvement with Ke Yona and being employed by [Spurs] now is a 50/50 question,” he explained when City Press asked if he was still part of the initiative.
“Ke Yona gives me the opportunity to see players who never had an opportunity. On the other side, I am now doing it with a team that I am working with full time, as opposed to Ke Yona, which is an exercise that is camp-based and only takes me away for four days at most.”
Ahead of the Spurs’ clash against last year’s finalists Maritzburg, Mashaba conceded that it was going to be a tough outing.
“Both teams are in dangerous positions in their leagues, so winning will be a morale booster,” he noted.
Spurs are 14th on the NFD table, while Maritzburg are bottom of the Absa Premiership standings, with just a single win in 18 matches.
Mashaba’s counterpart, Muhsin Ertugral, is still chasing his first victory since joining the Pietermaritzburg-based outfit last month.
The Team of Choice lost all of their past four games under the Turk, who is assisted by recently retired striker Mabhuti Khenyeza.
Mashaba, on the other hand, has injected some glimmer of hope into Spurs’ bid for NFD survival, thanks to back-to-back wins over Real Kings (4-1) and Maccabi FC (1-0) over the past two weeks.
“Our mission is two-pronged – to take the team out of the relegation quagmire and possibly to play-offs because, when you do the maths, you count the points in your favour hoping that results don’t go the way of others.
