Moorosi Tsiane
KICK4LIFE coach Bob Mafoso has confirmed the signing of Bantu defender Johannes Molapo on a two-year contract which has a renewal option.
The former under-20 central defender joined Bantu at the beginning of the 2016/17 season from the now defunct Sandawana where he was the skipper.
The towering defender was not a regular however, in the star studded James Madidilane side and he opted not to renew his contract which ends this month.
Mafoso told the Sunday Express on Friday that they are now just waiting for Bantu to release the players’ clearance.
“Everything has been concluded, we have agreed on terms with the player (Molapo) and he will be joining us for the next two seasons with an option of renewal,” Mafoso said.
Kick4Life early this month announced the departure of seven players whose contracts had lapsed and Mafoso said they are now faced with an uphill task of revamping the team with quality players.
He said Mathoho, as Molapo is affectionately known, has been signed as a replacement for the veteran defender Thabo Masualle, who has also left the team.
“He is still young but also comes with lot of experience. He has played for a long time and he now comes from one of the best teams in our league. He will be a good replacement for Masualle.”
Mafoso, who worked with Molapo during their days at Sandawana and also at Bantu, said he is aware that the towering defender was not consistent at Bantu but he is not worried.
“He is good and the fact that he was not playing regularly at Bantu is only because Bantu had too much quality. It is not because he is a bad player and I know he can fit into a team that he joins.
“Of course, he struggled at times but you can’t expect a player to be consistent if he not given enough game time. When he doesn’t play regularly, the confidence also drops but I trust in him and believe he can deliver for us,” said Mafoso.
Meanwhile, Mafoso said they have also finished negotiating with six other players and what is left for them to get clearances from their teams before announcing them officially.
“We have so far finished negotiations with seven players, Molapo included. We have three defenders, a winger, a holding midfielder and attacking midfielders.
“All the players mentioned above are out of contract with their teams, so we are not bound to go negotiate with their teams but we are just being courteous for the sake of good relations.
“We are on a mission to rebuild this team, so we are going all out to get quality players by casting our net wider and there are a few players we have identified in South Africa with whom we are also negotiating.”
Bantu president Leuta Leuta confirmed that Molapo, who was named the side’s most disciplined player for the just ended 2018/19 season, has already written to the club telling them that he will not be renewing his contract. He said they have no problem releasing the player.
“We have received his letter and we have got no problem releasing him because his contract with us is ending. We haven’t released him officially because we still have a few transactions left but we will be releasing him soon,” Leuta said.
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