16 Feb 2025

The departure of Zebras captain, Thatayaone Ditlhokwe from South African club Kaizer Chiefs took some supporters by surprise since he was now enjoying game time at Naturena.

Ditlhokwe joined Libyan club, Al-Ittihad on a two and half year contract and for a transfer fee of reportedly, more than P11 million.

He will be joining his countryman, Tumisang Orebonye who recently penned a deal with Al-Ittihad.

Kaizer Chiefs Facebook page informed its supporters by stating, “Kaizer Chiefs has reached an agreement with Libyan club, Al-Ittihad for the transfer of defender, Thatayaone Ditlhokwe. We wish him the best of luck in his new venture.”

However, Sunday Standard sport editor, Botlhale Koothopile who has been monitoring the player’s performance at Kaizer Chiefs said he was among those not so happy with the movement.

In terms of growth football wise, he believed that it was not the best of choices, adding that he was worried that in terms of league strength, the South African league was stronger than the Libyan.

“If you look at the CAF league rankings of the last quarter of 2024, the SA league ranked sixth in Africa, just behind Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania and Algeria in that order,” said

Koothopile further stated that Libya on the other hand was ranked 12th, just four places above Botswana at 16th.

“So, based on that, I believe his growth as a player would have been better served by his stay with Kaizer Chiefs, more so that he was getting game time. But then, may be all is not lost,” he said.

He however, said that Ditlhokwe probably wanted to get regular game time and he felt he was not getting that at Chiefs.

“Or perhaps he went for better pay, which I feel may have been a motivation. If it was for better pay,  one cannot fault him. Football is a short career and it is always advisable to earn as much as one can,” he said.

Koothopile said even if the movement might be detrimental to his football growth, at least he would have a better future and he would be playing consistently

“On the other hand, his movement may open opportunities for him to move to better leagues like Morocco and Algeria. Depending on how he plays and the scouting in Libyan leagues, all is not lost. His movement may be done with an eye on potential movement to better leagues in the future,” he said.  ENDS