Pitso and Rhulani encountered one another publicly for the first time since the young tactician took over the reins at Pirates from Milutin Sredojevic back in August, when they reported for their respective pre-match press conferences for the Telkom Knockout.
Mokwena arrived later than his scheduled time, with his conference then spilling over into Mosimane’s slot, allowing the Sundowns mentor – who usually runs late himself – to listen in on his former assistant coach’s media engagement.
The pair had a brief exchange of pleasantries, before ‘Jingles’ took his place up on the podium, beaming with pride after hearing how the 32-year-old tactician conducted himself in front of the media before also reflecting on his contribution to his rise.
“It’s good to be early sometimes, so you [PSL] can’t fine me; I can fine you also,” joked Mosimane upon taking his seat on the top table.
“But I think it created an opportunity for me to sit in a press conference – that’s nice – and just listen to this wonderful coach [Rhulani], so matured, so experienced as if he’s been in the hot seat for long.
“Sometimes it’s humbling for me to be sitting and just looking at the quality that comes out of coach Rhulani, and I can say the same thing that comes out of Kaitano [Tembo, who played under Mosimane at SuperSport United pre-2006].
“And I can always say that we haven’t made so many mistakes in life, working with what we can call ‘the so-called students’, and when they come out in the industry, they do so with flying colours.
“For me, that shows good relationships that I chose before and I feel very good when I see this coming out, because for us to build a nation, we’ve got to build and support other people, so when they come out and do better than how you have done, it’s another story.
“Those are things that make me sleep well, and I can say the little bit of contribution we had in football, this is how I see the level of contribution that I had in football, and I think Jomo Sono and Ted Dumitru – and maybe Carlos Alberto Pereira – can say the same thing about me.”
