Some Chiefs players from Soweto were not welcoming to those from other townships: Ndlanya

Legendary Pollen “Trompies” Ndlanya has spoken about a phenomenon during his playing days at Kaizer Chiefs where some players from Soweto took time to embrace those from other townships and provinces. 

Ndlanya, who is from Daveyton in the East Rand, starred for Amakhosi as a deadly goal scorer during the 1990s and early 2000s before he moved to Bursaspor in Turkey, where his career continued to flourish. 

Ndlanya is one of few players to have won the league with both Pirates and Chiefs and was part of the Bafana Bafana squad that finished third at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria. 

“I went there and there was a thing where players would tease you, making it as a joke while they meant it by asking questions like, 'Isn’t there a team in Daveyton?',” Ndlanya said.

“They would ask questions like, 'Is there no Daveyton or Benoni United'. They would make those remarks but mine was to go there and play well. 

“One thing for sure, if you know your job, there is no way they can hate you. I went in there and mastered my job and scored goals and there was no way they could sabotage me, so we started becoming friends.

“I don’t want to mention names, that wouldn’t be nice, but it was also done by some younger players from Soweto where, when a player comes from another township or province, they felt insecure and threatened not to pass the ball to him. 

“But I used to tell them this is life and this is not their team. I said to them one day they would find the same guy elsewhere and they understood me because later I was a senior player. 

“[I would say] 'Life is too short and you don’t treat someone bad', and they understood. But the bottom line is that it happened and it also happens in any workplace where people will be jealous and do something wrong to you.

“But you have to focus and do your job and be the best at what you do.” 

In a career spanning from 1990 to 2002 Ndlanya played two stints at Chiefs and also turned out for clubs including Manning Rangers, Göztepe and Bursaspor in Turkey, AmaZulu and Orlando Pirates.