A paraphrase of the definition of the notorious word ‘tsotsi’, courtesy of the trusted Oxford dictionary, simply means a young black South African capable of producing a sharp object (okapi) at the slightest provocation.
The simmering tension between a top local football coach and one of his subjects has reached boiling point after the promising midfielder confronted the coach in full view of his team mates seeking an explanation as to why his game time has been sliced off.
Sources close to the ugly incident revealed to New Era Sport that recently crowned MTC Premiership championship winning coach Woody Jacobs and McBride Ndjavera have not seen eye to eye ever since the wayward silky box-to-box midfielder lost his place in the starting lineup.
Insiders say the relationship between the pair soured further when Jacobs announced his 18-man match day squad prior to Stars’ Bidvest Cup semifinal defeat against FNB Orlando Pirates.
His omission from the match day squad did not sit well with the gifted midfielder who confronted the coach – unleashing a tirade of unprintable words his mother has probably never told him to utter publicly.
One of his team-mates Elvis ‘Porridge’ Tjivasera intervened and reprimanded the irate midfielder, who in turn resorted to his street ways of solving disputes with a physical response as he pulled out a knife, known as an ‘okapi’ in township lingo.
Sources with intimate knowledge of behind- the-scenes happenings at Stars say the young man has become a law unto himself dishing out unprovoked verbal one-twos with his team mates, while having developed a nasty habit of insulting those around him at will.
“Football requires a lot of respect and discipline – the boy has lost it a bit and is frustrated as a result of his lack of game time but that’s the nature of football,” confirmed Jacobs when approached to shed light on the wayward midfielder’s current status.
The ugly training ground incident prompted Jacobs to ban the unruly player from attending training sessions but has since reversed the decision after he sat the boy down.
“I had a lengthy discussion with the boy about his overall level of discipline and expect him back at training today (yesterday). We still have to fulfill our league assignment and he could be in contention for a starting berth – there are no hard feelings.”