In this edition of My Muti Story, former Mamelodi Sundowns and Moroka Swallows star Papi Mbele admits he used muti to enhance his performance on the pitch.
In this KickOff exclusive, Mbele who grew up using muti even at home, says there was muti in every club he played for in South Africa.
Who and where?
"You know professionally I started at Vaal Professional, there they were using muti, but they were nowhere near the level of Moroka Swallows.
"At Moroka Swallows it was bad grootman, they were professional in both ways. They had a guy called Bra Junior. He used to be our kit manager. He wouldn't allow you to step onto the pitch or a dressing room without him doing his thing first.
"On the morning of the match day, Gavin Hunt would take us training to practice set pieces, and we would find Bra Junior standing there already. He burned impepho everywhere we went. His impepho would sometimes affect even the referees. Once we were on the pitch every decision went in our favour. That is why Swallows was so red hot during those days. We finished in position 3 on the log table."
READ | 'He feared shower would ruin his muti'
Why were you doing it?
"Yes, muti doesn't play footbal, but it is used by a footballer. It goes on to stimulate the footballer's mind, muti works like steroids."
What did you have to do?
"As players we had to bath in a tortoise urine and waste, hey my brother after that nobody could stop Swallows. [Laughs] Even today I own in my team Black Swallows and I'm still using that method."
Did everyone take part?
"Only the white guys tried to refuse but they had no choice so they ended up joining in, Warren Lewis, Gary Macnab they both didn't have a choice."
What stood out?
"I come far with this muti thing, even at my young age my late grandmother knows, she used to bathe me in muti. She'd warn me, hey people will bewitch you if you don't take care of yourself, so you better bewitch them before they do."
What was the result?
"You see, personally, muti played a role in my professional career. I'm talking about myself. The team I played for at the amateur level had many outstanding players but it was Papi Mbele who stood out. That's because even at home I was using muti.
"I arrived at Vaal Professional, Bull Lehoko was in charge, and they were using muti.
"At Sundowns, I think muti was there but they were hiding it. Who can explain the dark marks on our white kit?
"At Sundowns they used to hide it from the likes of Raphael Chukwu, Roger Feutmba, and a muslim Kenny Niemach.
"But at Swallows, it was a different story, muti was the way of life, but to me, it wasn't much of a shock because I was already used to it."