“YOU won’t make enough money to retire from football in Mzansi.”
These are the views of ex-footballer Katlego “Mahoota” Mashego.
The 38-year-old striker, who hung up his boots in 2018, said local footballers are not making enough money to sustain them after retirement.
Mashego, who started his own business four years before he retired from the beautiful game, talks from experience.
He said life starts the moment you decide to leave the game.
Mashego has a company that supplies clients with books, coal, food, motor spares and other essential services in Mpumalanga.
The former Orlando Pirates, SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns forward, said he was planning to make a return to football in four to five years’ time, albeit in a different capacity.
“You don’t make the kind of money to rely on when the tiime to leave the game comes in this country. It’s a sad reality in local football,” he said.
“Show me a player who can save more than R5 million for retirement. The plan is always to buy expensive cars and rent luxury townhouses and, before you know it, you’ve reached your expiry date as a footballer.”
Mashego is studying for an LLB Law degree through Unisa. He is the second-born from a family of four siblings and both of his parents are still alive.
He is part of Off-Pitch-Goal, a TV show and initiative that aims to help players with their football income, produced by Football Conversations.
Although he won many trophies as he played for more than seven teams in the Premier Soccer League, his most memorable triumph was winning the Premiership title with SuperSport United in 2008.
“I played with Elias Pelembe, Denis Onyango, Kermit Erasmus and Ricardo Katza. The league title success paved the way for us to move to big clubs like Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns,” he recalled.
But Mashego said nothing beats the feeling of scoring on your debut in the Soweto derby.
He scored a brace to help Pirates defeat bitter rivals Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 in the derby in front of a sold-out crowd at Ellis Park Stadium in 2009.
It’s a moment he will never forget, and what made that moment special is that his parents were at the stadium.
“After the game, we went to Nando’s with my parents in Melville and received a free meal,” joked Mashego.
“Everyone looked at me in the restaurant and that’s when I realised how special it is to play in and win the Soweto derby,”
He also scored in a 1-0 over Chiefs at the FNB Stadium in the MTN8 semi-final second leg.
