18 September 2020 – The South African Masters and Legends Football Association (SAMLFA) is elated at the achievements of Mamelodi Sundowns FC coach Pitso Mosimane.
Mosimane has accomplished what no other local coach has ever achieved after guiding Sundowns to a historic Treble in the recently concluded Absa Premiership season.
With his third successive league title, Mosimane has added yet another major title to his glittering CV.
What makes his achievements more special is the fact that he has become the first black coach to win as many as five league titles.
This is not to mention the many other knockout cup trophies he has also collected in a coaching career now spanning 20 years.
In his own words, Mosimane describes the prejudices still suffered by black people, and not only in football but in many industries.
”There is a perception in my country, and it’s not about football, that ‘a black man cannot do this’,” says Mosimane.
“I am not throwing the racial card. I don’t need to do that because you know that I always say local is ’lekker’.
”Steve Komphela can make it. Mandla Ncikazi can make it. But we doubt our people. This country doubts our people.”
For SAMLFA, the sense of fulfillment stems from the fact that Mosimane represents a group of former players who have successfully made the transition from player to coach.
He continues to be a beacon of hope for aspiring fellow black coaches who find opportunities to coach at the highest level, invariably limited.
His success should also serve as an important message that, if given the right opportunities, there are talented and able black coaches who can do the job just as well as their foreign counterparts.