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My Muti Story: I'd rinse the muti of my Chiefs jersey

It's Muti Monday, and every Monday we get in touch with a former player, where they share a memorable muti-story from their playing days.

In this edition of My Muti Story, we get in touch with a God-fearing former Kaizer Chiefs attacker Kanga Nzenza.

Nzenza came from the Democratic Republic of Congo and played for Amakhosi in the nineties where he became an instant hit at the club.

Who and where?

"I remember in one of the Soweto Derbies we played against Orlando Pirates, those days you'd be given your jersey a day before the match.

"A muti-man would collect the jerseys from the club, do his thing, and bring it back later in the hotel, soaking wet.

"Each player would be allowed to keep his shirt in his hotel room. We would never see the muti physically except the bad smell that was on the jersey. The jerseys they came back from the muti man smelling very bad. That happened a lot in our away matches.

"Me and Botende Eshele we would complain. I used to share a hotel room with him a lot. We would complain about the smell but they would have none of it.

"I would then rinse my jersey with water to remove the bad smell from the jersey.

"People like Wellington Manyathi loved their muti [laugh]."

Why were you doing it?

"I was rinsing my jersey with water because I was just scared of the bad smell."

Who was the muti man?

"Some guy I forgot his name, he worked for Kaizer Chiefs, he doubled up as the club's driver."

What did you have to do?

"They believed it would make the team stronger. We just followed the orders because we were scared. After all, they could even fine you money, or even suspend you."

Did everyone take part?

"I was a born-again Christian, Botende Eshele was a born-again Christian also. That's why the club could not do the muti thing in front of us.

"They respected us, they knew we were born again, they didn't force us nothing.

"Thabang Lebese and Jacob Tshisevhe would make a joke about it and say to us, hey you, don't you know this jersey has muti? [Laughs]. I would then act scared, knowing very well that I washed my jersey in my hotel room."

What stood out?

"The fact that I would go on and score tomorrow while strikers who preferred to play in a smelly jersey failed to score [laughs]."

What was the result?

"That game we lost 2-1 to Pirates, I scored Kaizer Chiefs's only goal that day, even though I had removed the muti on my jersey.

"I don't believe in muti, it's just superstitions."

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