Orlando Pirates lacked a defender like Mngonyama – Mokoena lauds new signing

Former Orlando Pirates midfielder William ‘Naughty’ Mokoena has lauded the club’s decision to sign Kwanda Mngonyama ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

The Buccaneers recently snapped up the versatile defender on a free transfer after he was released by Maritzburg United at the end of June this year with his contract having expired.

Mngonyama was unveiled along with his former Maritzburg teammate Bandile Shandu, Free State Stars winger Monnapule Saneng and Baroka FC midfielder Goodman Mosele as Bucs’ new signings last week.

Mokoena, who was part of the Bafana Bafana squad at the 1998 Fifa World Cup finals in France, feels Mngonyama is the most important signing for the Soweto giants. 

“Mngonyama from Maritzburg is a good signing because Pirates have been lacking a defender like him,” Mokoena told Goal. 

“The defence leaked a lot of goals in the recent season. So, we needed a young boy to strengthen the defence. For me, it is a good acquisition by the club.” 

Pirates conceded 22 goals from 30 league matches compared to the 14 that PSL champions Mamelodi Sundowns shipped from the same number of matches during the 2020/21 term. 

Mngonyama started his career at Mamelodi Sundowns and the 27-year-old went on to turn out for the now-defunct Bidvest Wits, Cape Town City as well as Maritzburg.

Mokoena believes Mosele, 21, will find it difficult to break into the Pirates starting line-up despite the South Africa under-23 international being rated among the top young midfielders in the PSL. 

“He has to understand that he needs to fight for his place in the starting line-up,” the former AmaZulu FC and Swallows FC player said. 

“He will be fighting with those two players [Ben Motshwari and Thabang Monare] from Bidvest Wits for a place in the team. 

“So, for him to walk straight into the Pirates starting line-up will be very difficult because in order to play for a big club like Pirates you need to have strong mental strength,” he added. 

“It also takes time to understand Pirates’ culture for most players. One needs to fight hard for their place in the team due to the quality players that are part of the Pirates squad.” 

Mosele won the PSL Young Player of the Season award for the 2019/20 campaign and he was constantly linked with Kaizer Chiefs before he joined Pirates. 

He is part of the South Africa under-23 squad which travelled to Japan on Tuesday for the 2020 Olympic Games.