Orlando Pirates managed to win the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup double in the 2022/23 season. Although two of their players revealed some harrowing off-field incidents they had to endure, some of which threatened their lives.
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Despite the apparent success achieved by the Buccaneers in the campaign gone by, there were some challenges that the club had to overcome along the way.
A new coach who faced backlash just a few months into his tenure, players who were low on confidence, an injury-ravaged squad that just could not click into gear and to top it all off, the lives of two of their players being threatened.
In the three-part Orlando Pirates Bucs' Camp, the Buccaneers got the players to open up on some personal stories that left even the harshest of sceptics teary eyed.
Terrence Dzvukamanja, the lethal Zimbabwean finisher who was understood to be on his way out of the club due to his underwhelming performances revealed how unnamed people threatened his life upon joining the Soweto giants.
"I was receiving death threats because they didn't want me here. Last year from September to December 2022, they sent me inboxes and they called me, I don't know where they got my number.
"There was a time I went to the mall, and someone told me to my face that if I don't leave, they will make me leave.
"I didn't respond, and they kept sending messages saying if I don't tell my bosses that I want to leave, they will make me leave or they'll kill me.
"I told my parents, agent and the boss of the team what was happening. I was scared at the time because anything could happen. Sometimes I'd go to training, but my mind was not there. It affected my game because mentally I was not okay.
"I would say 'yes', I went through depression because sometimes I felt like it's better for me to drink alcohol so that I can relax or else it would be stressful."
He wasn't the only player who has had his life threatened. Monnapule Saleng, who was in his debut season with the club, revealed how he had his car compromised just days before playing in his first-ever Soweto Derby.
"Regarding the derby game, I came from [the] gym. I left the house early that morning. I went to Rand Stadium, and I parked my car. When I was done with training, my car wouldn't start. I asked myself what the problem could be because there are cameras at Rand Stadium.
"If there was a problem at home, I wouldn't have made it there. I left the car there and went home after training because it didn't want to start. When I came back for it, you could see that the petrol pipe had been cut. It wasn't leaking petrol before I went home, but when I came back you could see petrol.
"I asked myself what was going on because I had left it there and had already called the people from VW who were on their way to check what the issue was. When they got there and checked, they discovered that the pipe had been cut – and it was cut intentionally.
"You could see because the petrol pump is not easily removed but it was cut. When I asked, no one knew anything. It disturbed me a bit, so you can understand why my mind was put off.
"Because you ask yourself questions like if that thing had stayed connected and I drove it, what would have happened? It will disturb you even if you are a very strong person," he explained.
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