Over the years, we have heard stories of how desperate parents sometimes become to see their children realizing their dream of one day playing professional football, to such an extent that they fall for the tricks of conmen. At times there is no telling a good academy from a bad one, or a coach with good intentions or one out to fill his pockets at the expense of youngsters' tears. So, when an email landed on the Siya crew's desk from a concerned parent, implicating well-known former footballer Ntokozo Sikhakhane in an alleged scam involving aspirant professional players wishing to join his academy two years ago, the next logical step was to launch an investigation to get to the bottom of the story. This was made even more important by the fact that this emanates from adverts placed by the KwaMashu-born legend on the newspaper's noticeboard section. What really happened and what does Sikhakhane have to say for himself? Read on!
What The Siya Crew Has Been Told…
Ntokozo Sikhakhane is being accused of fraud by an individual who believes he is using his academy to take money from people who want to get their children into professional football.
Billy Noxaka from the Eastern Cape read in the noticeboard section of Soccer Laduma that the former Dynamos, Kaizer Chiefs, Bloemfontein Celtic and AmaZulu FC man was running an academy in KwaZulu-Natal and that he was looking for players. He has informed the Siya crew that he got in touch with the 40-year-old as he had players he wanted to take to the coastal province to join the academy, known as Umbumbulu Academy. According to Noxaka, Sikhakhane requested that he fill out a form which was sent to him, as well as deposit money which would serve as transport and accommodation for the players.
Noxaka indicated to this publication that an amount of R4 500 was sent to the former midfield man after they reached an agreement. But Noxaka soon developed an inkling that he may have been led up the garden path by the former player. "At the time, he said he was running a youth academy to assist the community. Because I was also starting a project in 2021, I read in Soccer Laduma that Ntokozo had a project and I was interested. I had some very good players, so I contacted him for us to make a deal so that I could take these boys to him.
These boys want to go to professional level, so I made an arrangement with Ntokozo Sikhakhane and he said he was running an academy and that he was looking for players.
This was in 2021," Noxaka revealed. "We made the deal, and I contacted the parents of the players. He provided me with the details for his FNB account. I contacted one of the grandmothers of the players and she deposited R1 500 for her grandson. I paid R3 000 for both my son and grandson. I did that, and Ntokozo confirmed that he got the money. We were communicating either via WhatsApp or email.
In total, the money that was sent to him was R4 500. In December 2021, he sent me an Umbumbulu Academy form where he instructed me to fill it in and email back to him. He promised us Golden Arrows, Maritzburg United and AmaZulu FC. He said he supplies players to these clubs, so I thought that things would go much better," he added.
After sending the money, Noxaka says things changed and he started to notice that something was amiss. "I called him and asked when he was going to take the boys. It was around December and Ntokozo then kept on telling me to wait and that I should have patience because things won't happen quickly. He said the leagues were on a break, and he was giving other stories. So, he said we should wait. He was sending me from pillar to post. I started putting pressure on him because we wanted him to pay our money back and I even had to pay back the grandmother who paid for her grandson, using my own money. I told him that I was no longer trusting him. Whenever I was trying to contact him telephonically, his number was no long working and his email was not active, whatsoever."
Noxaka is still seeking the R4 500 which was paid to the KwaMashu-born man, but said he has not been able to get hold of him for a period of over a year. "It's not good that something like this has happened and I need to find a way to get the matter resolved because it has gone on for a long time."
Soccer Laduma Fair Play – Sikhakhane Addresses Allegations
As always, and in the spirit of Fair Play, Soccer Laduma got in touch with 'Koloba', as he is affectionately known, to get his version of events, as he explained what happened and why the phone number he was using at the time is no longer working.
The former Amakhosi development player also explained that he was fully aware of the money Noxaka paid to him but explained the complications. "I know Billy. You know what happened? They stole my phone in December and I tried to do a sim swap, but I decided to get another number. Billy called me two years ago after taking my number from Soccer Laduma. He told me that he wanted to bring his boys to my academy.
At that time, my academy was up and running. It was before Covid, because after Covid I stopped everything. I told Billy how I operate. I told him that he can bring the boys, but he would have to pay every month because it's a paying academy. The boys go to school in the morning and then they attend training in the afternoon.
Over the weekend, they play games or friendly games. Sometimes we played AmaZulu or Golden Arrows just to give the boys exposure.
"So, I spoke to Billy and he said he has two boys and he said one of them is going to university. I told him that was not a problem. The challenge with Billy was that, since Covid, I told him that I do not think I would run the academy anymore. But I told him that I can invite his boys to my camp during the school holidays for five days and then assess them and see if I can help them. Billy paid for these boys. He paid R3 000 and R1 500 for another boy. He paid and I don't want to lie. So, I told him that we should wait for my camp, which was after Covid. I called him and asked if the boys were still coming for the camp and he said, 'Yes, but the parents are changing their minds.' But then I said to him, 'Once you make the payment, we use the money for arrangements.' You don't just keep the money in the account. We book accommodation. You see now? I am organizing a camp in December. Do you know how much they want accommodation? They want R180 000 for 150 kids. Now, I prefer to work with the municipality because when people pay, they end up demanding and thinking we are 'eating' their money.
"You must remember, even when you call the scouts to come watch the players while they are in the camp, they need an appearance fee. Do you know that you give the scouts an appearance fee? So, parents don't know these things. They think they will pay R1 500 and then you will fly in Chiefs. But back to the story of Billy. I could see that he wanted his money back and I told him we had used it for the camp. We paid for accommodation and we organised transport. I told him that we would refund him, but Billy was busy putting pressure. I told him that I am not running away. He even sent me emails. I've communicated with Billy, but for the past six months, we have not communicated, I won't lie. That's why I am trying to move away from these things of development that want money because it causes a lot of problems. There was a parent who said I would take a player to Chiefs. I took the boy to Chiefs. He was there for five days. But the parents said, 'You said you are taking him to Chiefs to sign.' I said, 'No, how can I do that?' Chiefs is a club and it's not mine. I asked them to give the young boy an opportunity, but it does not mean he will sign. Those are the things that happen. I don't have a problem with paying him the money back."
An Insider's View…
The Siya crew got in touch with renowned development coach Farouk Khan, who's director of the Stars of Africa Academy, to talk about what it takes to run a successful academy and what parents should look out for when they are sending their children there.
"The first thing parents need to look out for is an academy with a track record. They must look for an academy that has produced players. They must know the people who are running the academy because anyone can open an academy these days. The problem is that SAFA does not license academies. It's free for all. The safety of the children is at risk. That's the first thing parents should look out for. If you send your child to school, you want to try to find the best school, so the same must be done when you find an academy. You cannot leave your child in the care of someone you have not checked on properly."
Khan also spoke about the qualifications of the people running the academies.
"You need to check their qualifications as well. Those things are critical. You have situations where parents send their kids blindly and that does not help. You get fly-by-night academies and you get people sleeping on the floor and all of that. You are abusing the kids and that's not good at all. So, the parents need to check these things. You obviously want former players to be involved, but they need to do the right thing."
