A SOUTH AFRICAN football pioneer has died. A football trailblazer is no more.
Though he had long ceased to be actively involved in the game, Stanley “Screamer” Tshabalala’s death yesterday will leave the game bereft of one of its biggest contributors.
Bra Stan, as he was affectionately known in the game, succumbed to the injuries he suffered when he was shot in March.
At the time of his death, he was attached to Orlando Pirates, the club he served diligently in numerous administrative capacities in the twilight of his career.
He was, however, a coach through and through and will always be remembered as the man who laid the foundation to the beautiful, championship-winning football that Mamelodi Sundowns play to this day.
Back in the ’80s when the late Zola Mahobe bought Sundowns, he turned to Tshabalala to lead the team. And Mshengu introduced that brilliant playing style he coined “Shoe Shine and Piano” to help the club challenge both Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
Later when South Africa returned to international football, Tshabalala became the country’s first national team coach. And though Bafana Bafana became the continent’s whipping boys, regularly losing matches by conceding four goals, it was generally accepted that Bra Stan had helped lay the foundation that led to the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations title under the late Clive Barker.
He was to return to the national team as a manager and later worked as a technical administrator at Kaizer Chiefs – the club he played for in the ’70s after Kaizer Motaung formed it upon breaking away from Pirates.
The football fraternity met the news of his being shot in March with shock, and his death is sure to be mourned all round thanks to his larger than life personality.
The family and club (Pirates) have requested the public to await the details of his funeral.