Rhulani Mokwena is currently on loan at Chippa United as their head coach from Orlando Pirates and the big question is where does he draw his salary from. His response is that he cares less about his salary.
Mokwena joined the Chilli Boys before the coronavirus halted the Premier Soccer League (PSL) action.
He left the Buccaneers’ technical team after the arrival of Josef Zinnbauer. In an interview with journalists from the South African Football Journalists Association (Safja) via a zoom meeting, he categorically stated that he doesn’t worry about stuff that has to do with his salary.
“Look, I don’t care about where I’m getting paid from. Those things are not important to me. What is important is that I have to be at training. I do what I love everyday. I just had a training session today with the players on Zoom. I was part of the training. We did kickboxing. I just enjoy my work.
"I give my best to Chippa regardless of who is paying my salary. I think, that’s for my agent and those are legalities that my agent takes care of. I don’t even know to be honest,” Mokwena responded when quizzed about who pays his salary.
“The players' concerns become my concern. Regardless of who pays my salary, if my players are not getting paid, I’m the first one to pick up the phone and speak to the chairman because of course it affects my job. If players are unhappy it is very difficult for players to perform. At the end of the day, the coach bears the brunt for bad results.
"I have to adopt my players and be a parent to them, I can’t be selfish. That’s one thing we can’t do as coaches to exclude ourselves from the group. If there’s a deduction on their salaries, it is my responsibility as the leader of the group to take it up with the chairman of the club,” he said.
For now, there are no salary cuts at the Chilli Boys.
“We had a discussion with the chairman and I’m proud that all the players have been paid in full. With so much negativity around Chippa United and what happens around his name, it is humbling when he puts his neck out and say he will pay full salaries. It is a big responsibility on his shoulders considering he is running the club from his own pocket. I think it is commendable.
"For the good things that are happening at Chippa he (chairman Chippa Mpengesi) doesn’t get credit. He is doing so much work even in the Eastern Cape at the moment. He donated R300 000 to the underprivileged recently."
Mokwena took over the reigns at the relegation-threatened club just before the league programme was suspended and was in charge for one game.