Orlando Pirates wonderkid Relebohile Mofokeng is making headlines after he added another feather to his cap after winning one of the most significant sporting awards at the 13th edition of the Gauteng Sports Awards.
The annual awards ceremony occurred on 24 November at the Auckland Park Campus of the University of Johannesburg.
ORLANDO PIRATES STAR RELEBOHILE MOFOKENG WINS BIG AT THE GAUTENG SPORTS AWARDS
Dubbed as the next big star from South Africa, the Orlando Pirates poster boy won the Sports Personality of the Year award at the ceremony.
The 20-year-old star outshone a host of athletes who won big this year, including Olympic champion Tatjana Smith, UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis, and Mamelodi Sundowns captain Ronwen Williams.
Other notable athletes who missed the award include former African 100m record holder Akani Simbine.
Relebohile Mofokeng has been trending against his big win. Since his thrust into the limelight, he has won several accolades, which include:
PSL Young Player of the Season
Nedbank Cup Most Promising Player of the Tournament
Gauteng Sports Personality of the Year
In 15 games for the Orlando Pirates this season, he has scored four goals and has five assists. His flair and command of the game have since earned him a national team call-up.
However, Relebohile Mofokeng was absent from the awards ceremony, but his mother received the honour on his behalf.
While accepting Relebohile’s award, Maomi Mofokeng said, “I’m very honoured to come here today and receive this award for him.”
She added, “It is a privilege to have a son like him. Relebohile is always a respectful, humble soul. So again, I would like to thank everyone who voted for him.”
CAREER
The 20-year-old star started his youth career with Transnet School of Excellence. A few months ago, he topped trends after his photos of him wearing a Mamelodi Sundowns jersey went viral.
However, The South African established that Relebohile Mofokeng played for a team that wore a Mamelodi Sundowns jersey.
He once played for Amandl/Vaal Juventus FC—before joining Orlando Pirates. In 2022, he joined Orlando Pirates Youth Academy, and a year later, he was promoted to the senior team.
Since then, he has won big and become the club’s poster boy. In 2023, he hogged headlines after having trials with English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves).
Several European clubs are said to be closely monitoring him.
ARE YOU A FAN OF RELEBOHILE MOFOKENG?
Former Kaizer Chiefs attacker Junior Khanye has slammed Orlando Pirates for overly relying on Relebohile Mofokeng.
The 20-year-old has scored two league goals and provided five assists this season for the Buccaneers. Despite starting the season positively, Mofokeng has dropped in form as Pirates started losing matches.
In their last nine league matches, the Sea Robbers have lost four times. Khanye said Relebohile Mofokeng should not be blamed when the team loses.
“You can see there are games that are won by certain players not by a team,” the ex-Chiefs star said on iDiski TV. “Pirates when they lose everybody can blame you and say Pirates didn’t play well, I compliment this boy, Mofokeng. This boy I won’t fault him if he is not performing.
“Pressure is always on the boy and how old is he? Every time he gets the ball and not just in the Marumo Gallants game, three, four games this boy you can see there is always someone assigned to monitor the boy and someone needs to cover,” Khanye added.
Relebohile Mofokeng has only netted two league goals this season
“He is so skilful; he is intelligent now he gets frustrated because he is still maturing in his game. The boy has won so many games for Orlando Pirates so much that you can’t even tell Pirates supporters that he won the game for them with Tito Maswanganyi complementing him.”
Khanye said Relebohile Mofokeng should be backed by other players who have underperformed.
“In games like this, other players at Orlando Pirates when they are tested pound for pound, they can’t even raise their hands. I’m referring to the likes of [Thalente] Mbatha and Kabelo Dlamini who were nowhere to be seen.”
Is Mofokeng underperforming this second half of the season?
