Jerry Sikhosana has described his treatment by former club Orlando Pirates as painful, saying he has been overlooked despite helping the South African side win the CAF Champions League in 1995.
The striker, now 57, spent five years with Pirates after joining from Witbank Aces in 1993. He left the Soweto giants in 1998 before returning for a second spell between 2000 and 2001.
Sikhosana established himself as one of the club’s most important players during the mid-1990s. He scored the only goal in the second leg of the 1995 CAF Champions League final against ASEC Mimosas in Abidjan.
By the time he left, Sikhosana had scored 44 goals in 125 official matches for the Sea Robbers. However, he says he has not been involved with the club in any capacity since then, and does not feel he is treated as one of its legends.
Speaking on the Chillers Punch podcast, Sikhosana recalled an occasion when he had to queue alongside supporters to buy a ticket for a Pirates match. He also said he was given a VIP ticket by Kaizer Chiefs Marketing Director Jessica Motaung.
“You look at the Pirates jersey with a star, and the first impression should be, ‘thank you Jerry Sikhosana, you gave us a star’,” he said.
“But you’d go to the stadium, fold my arms and queue with the supporters to go and buy a match ticket. I swear to God that’s what is happening.”
Sikhosana also described a visit to Durban with former goalkeeper Brian Baloyi, where he encountered other former Pirates players who had been selected for an event.
“I was once in Durban with Brian (Baloyi). We moved to a suite, I bumped into Thandi (Merafe), and she looked down,” he said.
“I then saw Eddie (Edward Motale) and Lucky (Lekgwathi), and they wearing these new Pirates tracksuits, and you could see that these are the two legends that were picked for that game.”
He said the players questioned why he was not wearing the club’s clothing, but explained that he did not regard himself as a Pirates legend because of how he had been treated.
“And they were like, ‘and what about the uniform?’, and asked them ‘what uniform? I’m not a Pirates legend. I’m just wearing my clothes’,” said Sikhosana.
“Chiefs legends wore their own uniform. I wouldn’t wear the Pirates merchandise. All I wanted there was to ask for a ticket as a Pirates legend but I was deprived and Chiefs gave me.”
