Mamelodi Sundowns have officially announced that they have parted ways with head coach Rulani Mokwena on Wednesday afternoon.
“Sundowns wishes to express its gratitude to Rhulani Mokwena for his contribution to the successes and achievements of the club during his tenure as head coach.
“Rhulani Mokwena will forever be part of the Mamelodi Sundowns family, and the club wishes him all the very best with his future endeavours.
“The decision of Mamelodi Sundowns was taken by the board taking into account the objectives and expectations of the club and was not influenced or based on the recommendation of any individual associated with the club.
“Sundowns is deeply committed to the development and growth of South African coaches and players.”
Sundowns also confirmed that Manqoba Mngqithi will take over the reigns
“Coach Manqoba Mngqithi and the technical team will continue to lead and take control of the training and preparation of the players for the upcoming season.
“Mamelodi Sundowns is preparing and focusing on competing in all the upcoming competitions and is honoured to be one of four football clubs representing the African continent in the historic FIFA Club World Cup 2025.”
SABC Sport reported on Tuesday that Mokwena and sporting director Flemming Berg are at loggerheads over various issues that have strained their working relationship.
One of the issues that has led to the breakdown includes the disagreement between the two parties on players’ signings and outgoings.
“What is happening now between Rulani and the sporting director has been looming,” said a source close to the situation.
“The tension got worse when he [Mokwena] pushed for the signing of Thembinkosi Lorch in January. The sporting director was not in favour of the decision, but because Rulani pushed so hard, it had to happen.”
“Rulani also did not want [Bongani] Zungu to leave, but the sporting director did not see the need to have him around for another season.”
In June, Mokwena expressed a desire to have Zungu at Sundowns for at least another season during a radio interview with Power FM.
“So now the obvious replacement is coach Manqoba; he has been at the club for a while now, and he will oversee the coaching duties until the club finds a replacement for Rulani,” the informant added.
Now we gonna see if he is a real coach…