At nine o’clock tonight, just after Shaka Ilembe lays down the spears, the first episode of Giants — a documentary chronicling the lives of Orlando Pirates stars — will premiere on the small screen.
It is a cinematic tapestry which — through the eyes and mouths of Orlando Pirates players and the people around them — details the journey criss-crossed by several stars to the heights of elite football.
It captures the merry moments of their parents, who proudly share stories of their sons’ love affairs with football from tiny tots to fully fledged celebrated professionals whose efforts have elevated them to household names for club and country.
An insightful trinity of family, faith and football, this work gives a glimpse of the people behind the footballers, serving as a mirror reflecting their personal and professional lives, from the dizzying heights of victory to the disappointing lows of defeats.
Pirates midfielder Thalente Mbatha is one of the cast members featured in this groundbreaking work through which we learn that his football dream almost ended before it began.
His mother put a full stop to it after teachers called her to a meeting to complain that Thalente was offside with his schoolwork. Why? Because the boy was fully focused on showing his talent by breaking class windows with a soccer ball.
Tales of inspiration
In a country like ours, one dominated by a news cycle of leaders scraping the bottom of the barrel of ethics and morals, figures of inspiration for the youth are far and few between. Most of what they are exposed to are tenderpreneurs aligned to politicians featuring prominently in a cobweb of corruption claims.
While upstanding members of society who live by the letter of the law exist, they are overshadowed by those who flash opulence from ill-gotten riches and by non-adherence to rules. That’s why the spotlight should be shone on stories of attaining success through honest hard work, such as sporting excellence.
Stories of inspiration, motivation and determination to make it against all odds, Giants strikes a similar strand to Chasing The Sun, which catalogued the twists and turns the Springboks navigated in their mammoth march from also rans to the summit of Rugby World Cup championships.
Today Mbatha is to the youth of KwaMashu what Makazole Mapimpi is to the youth of Gqeberha, living testimony that wholesome success is possible.
Those with elephant memories will remember that KwaMashu is the home of Lucky “Oshkosh” Molefe, the defensive stalwart who was an immovable force in the Mamelodi Sundowns centre-back pairing with Bricks Mudau and later Joas Magolego.
Thabo Thalente Games
Molefe’s story was never told and didn’t get the prominence of today’s generation.
My hope is that this one of Mbatha, who along with his Kaizer Chiefs homeboy Thabo Cele, appears in an episode of Kaizer Chiefs TV reflecting the duo’s multicode collaboration they call the Thabo Thalente Games, will inspire. Hopefully, it will be a vehicle to encourage the youth to use an escape route from the pitfalls of being enticed by crime — to find resonance with the youngsters across the land.
And because KwaMashu is a microcosm of the crime-ridden conditions that bedevil other communities in urban and rural areas, where despondent youngsters are crying out for direction.
From places like Newcastle, the youth should know that some of the squad members of the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations-winning heroes were from their shores.
One of them, Helman “Midnight Express” Mkhalele, was a rough diamond unearthed by supreme talent-spotter, Jomo Sono, who polished him at Jomo Cosmos, and sold him to Pirates, where he shone in the Africa Cup of Champions in 1995. He went on to sparkle as Bafana conquered the continent for what remains their sole crown to date.
Mkhalele is now second-in-command to Hugo Broos. Sizwe Motaung, another Sono discovery, is a member of the exclusive elite that hold the distinction of donning the colours of Mamelodi Sundowns, Chiefs and Pirates.
In this age, where content is king, may shows like Giants and Chasing The Sun mushroom across the spectrum.
