Mofokeng chose Orlando Pirates despite bigger Mamelodi Sundowns offer

Sechaba Mofokeng says his son, Relebohile Mofokeng, rejected a substantially higher salary from Mamelodi Sundowns to join Orlando Pirates – a decision that shaped the young footballer’s rapid rise.

Sundowns offered the teenager R15,000 a month to play for their Under-19 side, with the prospect of promotion to the reserve team in the DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) if he impressed.

Orlando Pirates, by contrast, proposed a place in their DDC team for R6,000 a month. Relebohile ultimately chose the lower-paid route because he believed it offered a clearer pathway to senior football.

The 22-year-old has since become one of South Africa’s leading young talents. He established himself with Pirates and Bafana Bafana before moving to Belgian Super Cup champions Royal Union Saint-Gilloise.

Speaking on Giants, Sechaba recalled how Patrice Motsepe wanted his son to join Sundowns’ Under-19 team.

“Motsepe wanted him to play for the U19s and offered him R15,000 – and if he did well, they would promote him to the reserve team in the DDC,” Mofokeng said.

The family had told Sundowns they would respond on the following Tuesday. But when they opened their gate that morning, representatives from Pirates were already outside with a competing proposal.

“We told them we would get back to them on Tuesday… and on the Tuesday morning when we opened the gate, Pirates people were outside the gate, they said Mr Khoza wanted Rele,” he explained.

The Pirates contract guaranteed Relebohile an opportunity to play in the DDC, although the monthly payment was less than half of Sundowns’ offer. Sechaba left the decision to his son, explaining the difference between the two choices.

“The Pirates contract was to play in the DDC, for R6000. I asked them for two minutes to discuss it. Eish – I said the ball is in your court my friend.

“You choose Yellow, they give us R15,000 per month, you go to Pirates, they give you R6000 per month.”

Relebohile did not decide immediately. He told his father they would discuss the matter after their bath, leaving the family to wait.

“He then said, I’ll talk to you after our bath. That was the President’s words, so we had no choice but to wait,” Sechaba recalled.

When they spoke later, Relebohile remained firm on his choice of Pirates. Asked why, he pointed to the number of players who had progressed from the club’s development system into the first team.

“After the bath he said he wanted to go to Pirates, when I tried to explain he insisted on Pirates, I asked him why he was choosing Pirates, he said a majority of their players are coming from the DDC to make it into the first team.”

That judgement was ultimately rewarded. Relebohile progressed through Pirates’ development structure, broke into the senior side and earned international recognition with Bafana Bafana before securing his move to Royal Union Saint-Gilloise.