Former Kaizer Chiefs captain Tefu Mashamaite has explained the real reason he left Amakhosi in 2015 after winning the league title.
Having won the league title with Chiefs in 2015, Mashamaite made a surprise move to BK Hacken in Sweden. He only spent one year overseas before returning to South Africa to join SuperSport United. His stay in Pretoria lasted just a season before signing with Baberwa.
Speaking to Lorenz Kohler, the former Kaizer Chiefs captain said he was forced to apologise after asking for a better contract. He said he had done a lot to earn a better contract but instead, he was sacled.
“My contract was running out and we started negotiations in January 2015,” Mashamaite said. “We wen’t back and forth, and at the end of the day, we couldn’t agree on the deal I felt like I deserved because remember when I came from Wits, it was more of like Chiefs telling me we going to give you this money.”
“Over the years, I proved myself and If i go to the negotiating table with two league titles, Player’s Player of the Season, Defender of the Season and Player of the Season then I’ve got leverage. At the end of the day, because you’re dealing with the machine, the machine is always going to accuse you of greed,” he said.
Ex-Kaizer Chiefs captain forced out of the club?
Mashamaite said he wanted better wages but the club did not see it that way.
“I was always trying to look after myself because we are in this to take care of our families and make money while we still can. I felt I had leverage to go on the table and say, ‘I deserve to earn this much’.
“People always think it was a crazy amount but I wanted to be amongst the top 10 (earners) at Chiefs. I played for three years and only missed three games. Can you imagine the amount of matches I played at Chiefs, didn’t get injured or get suspensions,” Mashamaite added.
“They made us feel like we ganged up against Chiefs. That was the narrative that was constructed and I didn’t even talk to Khune or Mandla. A narrative was created and that started saying we are rebelling against Chiefs, I got sacked with two weeks left in the contract and then you’re told to come back and apologise,” said the former Kaizer Chiefs captain.
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