ShakingInk

By Malose Wa Ga Lamola Bongiwe Thusi in her debut match for JVW (Cred: Twitter @BongiweThusi6) Coming into the final six months of your contract is the most frustrating phase of any professional footballer. It is an old tale, one that is full of peril. Athletes are never at ease as worries threaten to come crowding in. The pressure seems to be escalating to explosions. Like any other footballer, Bongiwe Thusi, found herself in a similar situation when her contract with Mamelodi Sundowns was coming to an end. Little did she know Equatorial Guinea giants, Malabo Kings, were keeping tabs on her situation at Chloorkop and were keen on bringing her on board. Slender Clutched her bags and waved goodbye to her teammates.  That brought down an iron curtain. Joining Kings was a royal beginning. As every word tunnels into the pages of ShakingInk, Slender, speaks of her stay at Sundowns and why joining Malabo Kings was a sort of task she wanted to sink her teeth into. With her contr

By Malose Wa Ga Lamola Banyana Banyana celebrates Africa Women's Cup Of Nations victory after beating Morocco 2-1 in the final. Photo cred: Backpagepix Milpark Stadium remains a sacred space for South African women in football. Like an angel offering redemption to a sinner, in 1992, FIFA readmitted South Africa back into the international football fold. A year later Banyana Banyana was born. The real world finally intruded into South African women's football in the winter of 1993. A new era was opening. Banyana took on neighbours eSwatini, the then Swaziland. The main architects of South African women's football history. Former Banyana Banyana star midfielder, Anna Monate, took ShakingInk down memory lane as she reminisces on the historic day when she took to the field donning national team colours. Though, the stakes were real, and high. Playing football was an art they were learning to master. Monate laid bare the incidents of the 30th of May 1993. “For my

By Malose Wa Ga Lamola Sundowns Ladies FC mentor, Jerry Tshabalala, chats to Newzroom Afrika Sports Anchor Tumi Kgaswe at the Hyundai-Sundowns Lounge. ShakingInk got hold of Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies mentor, Jerry Tshabalala and the 2021 campaign 'Treble' winning coach reveals the story behind Sundowns success, the club’s philosophy and how they manage to marry collective discipline with individual creativity. Something they see as the ladder to all high designs. He also equates club chairman, Thlopie Motsepe, to the CAF President as a visionary of note. The principal catalyst of the new mood, Agnes Nkosi, led the team from the dugouts during the Cosafa region CAF qualifiers round and more of a carbon copy 'Mbiba' has come in full circle to win the inaugural Total Energies CAF Women’s Champions League as a solo rider. Nkosi gets a deserved pat on the shoulder from the head coach. In the wake of new prosperity, a Cultural Revolution is coming to the boil at

By Malose Wa Ga Lamola Hollywoodbets Super League has set up a theatre for women's football in South Africa. An action galore series, more of a horror film than a comedy flick. Though, football is less fictional than most of Hollywood films, but it offers the same dramatic content if not more. Heroes and villains, the building blocks of classic tales. Directing a television production bears some similarities to football management. Trying to coax the best out of role players. Coaches are more concerned with numbers on the log standings, so are directors' obsession with viewership.  A one team dominated league is often referred to as a farmer's league. The dominance of Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies in the Hollywoodbets Super League puts the women's league in category one of farmers' leagues. Royal AM Ladies mentor, Thato Haraba, argues the notion that Hollywoodbets Super League is a farmers league and is of a view that assumptions lack as much in t

By Malose Wa Ga Lamola  Nompumelelo Nyandeni of Janine Van Wyk Football Club For Girls yelling instructions to her teammates during a Hollywoodbets Super League match. Photo Cred: Thami Soccer. Nature has a tendency to panel beat and sips away strength and pace, but Nompumelelo Nyandeni, of Janine Van Wyk Football Club for Girls has defied science as she gathers strength and becoming quicker as she ages.  Nyandeni finished the 2021/22 Hollywoodbets Super League season a joined top goalscorer, tying up with Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies star Andisiwe Mqcoyi, after the duo rattled the net a massive twenty-seven times. The veteran midfielder-cum-striker shows no signs of slowing down, as she is leading the pack this season with fifteen goals in fourteen games under her belt. “Last season we had joint top goalscorers with both me and Andisiwe Mqcoyi, that shows the level of healthy competition in the women’s soccer league. I have to say that also plays a role in motivating me to kee

By Malose Wa Ga Lamola South African U/17 Mentor, Simphiwe Dludlu-Sibiya during a training session. (Photo Cred: SAFA) ShakingInk caught up with South African Under 17 women's mentor, SABC Sports football pundit and former Banyana Banyana skipper, Simphiwe Dludlu-Sibiya to get her brains on the success of the holy grail of South African football, bonuses tabled by SAFA and her take on the raging debate over who is the best footballer between the veteran Nigerian attacker, Asisat Oshoala and the speedy South African goal poacher, Thembi Kgatlana.  Years crept past with South African Football Association (SAFA) facing the cardinal sin of operating on a shoestring budget. A budget tighter than a python wrapped up its prey. SAFA has attained her omega point. A national masterpiece, sculpted by SAFA to perfection. When SAFA president, Dr Danny Jordaan, announced that the Association has put aside a whooping R9.2 million to pay Banyana stars' for their progre