Mahlangu, who is now known as a TV pundit and brand ambassador for SuperSport United, is also a scout for the Copa Coca Cola U-15 provincial tournament.
He feels it is criminal for the Glamour Boys of Soweto to have not won a trophy in three seasons.
“The group of players they had like the likes of ‘Shabba’, [Tsepo] Masilela, [Bernard] Parker, Itu [Khune] ... all those guys, they have played their part. Looking at their age they cant give you anything more than what they are giving you. It’s only natural that the more you get older you become slower. Obviously you have matured in knowing what to do and where to go on the pitch so you’ve matured. But in terms of to compete with these young players. People think the PSL is easy, they think it’s easy.
“I respect Steven Pienaar because he played in England but when he came back he almost struggled to keep up with the young players in the PSL. There was a game I did for SuperSport about Wits at the stadium. I spoke with him and he said: ‘Hey my man, it’s like a total different league ... and I’ve played in the PSL before I went to England, but now it’s like I'm seeing flames’, was his reaction. As someone who played in the English Premier League, one of the best leagues in the world, he respects the PSL. So, people think the PSL is easy, it’s not easy.
“So I think for me Chiefs not winning trophies was a blessing in disguise so that they can really take decisions. Remember for the past two, three seasons in the market they were not active. They were always buying players with a clearance, players who are sitting at home, players who are at so-called smaller. Teams didn’t give them a job then Chiefs come and take them. That was not Kaizer Chiefs; actually Chiefs use to lead and other teams would follow. But now Chiefs are following and other teams are leading. Now you are sitting at home with your clearance, you don’t even know trying to call this one and Chiefs calls you and says, ‘come, we’re gonna give you a contract’. It never happened before.”
Mahlangu is encouraged to hear that Amakhosi are considering bringing back youth coach Khan.
“If you saw in recent weeks they are considering bringing in Farouk Khan to spearhead the scouting and development structures, and that is where Chiefs is lagging. Remember we came from the development and we broke through and became important players in the first team. After us it was Khune, after Khune it was no more. So that is not Kaizer Chiefs and that is their downfall. They need to restructure their development because Chiefs for years were very strong when it comes to development, they were very solid. Now the last few years they were very laid back and they lost that. But I’m happy that they are reconsidering and saying no, we think Farouk needs to come back home.
“We know he has his academy but that he is the cream, he can polish a player. You know you can give him a player who can be okay at football but after a year or two you will see a total different ball game with that player. And that for me shows a sign of change you know. That decision motivates me. Now they have realised.They are honest, they did their introspection and are saying, ‘guys what are we doing wrong here?’ Then they identify that, because before we can move forward we need to fix our future first. If our development is solid then we will never struggle. Because when you have a solid development like when we played, they usedto buy maybe one or two foreign players with big money. But the core of the team will be with the likes of Thabo Mooki, the late Banda Lebese, the Doctor Khumalos. Those guys, they grew up at Chiefs and understood the culture of the team and came through the ranks since they were very young, and that's what is missing at Kaizer Chiefs of late,” Mahlangu concluded.