01 Aug 2017

Football players have been advised to prepare for life after retirement.

It was also said that players should use their situation while still playing to their advantage in seeking better life opportunities post their playing days.

This was uttered by former Zebras and Uniao Flamingo Santos wing back, Khumo Motlhabane in an interview  recently.

The man nicknamed “Shoes” during his playing days also stated that it was  important to plan for retirement because there had been cases of former players living in poverty but having played the game for a long time.

“The real essence of life comes after retirement since football is a very short career and for one to plan for those days is very important.”

“I now proudly own a customs broker company which works with Botswana Revenue Services (BURS). I have employed six people and also help our government with job creation because of the opportunities football gave me,” added the 41-year-old former Township Rollers player.

Having retired 10 years ago, Motlhabane said he came to football seeking not to depend on his parents or to live a lavish lifestyle but in an attempt to better himself.

“Honestly, football had to come through for me and help me secure a better future after failing my junior certificate back in 1992,” he said.

He added that as soon as he started taking football seriously, he started corresponding with various local colleges in a bid to enrol with one of them.

He later enrolled with Kanye Brigade for a construction course and later upgraded to National Craft Certificate (NCC) in Bricklaying at Jwaneng Technical College.

Even though he joined UFS after the completion of his studies in Jwaneng, Motlhabane said one moment that really helped him in shaping and planning for his life post retirement was when in camp with the national team.

“Botswana Life approached some of the Zebras players, me included, in need of sales persons for their insurance policies because they believed we could do it since we are well-known and famous.”

“We were later trained for product knowledge and whoever was to top the lot was to be awarded a scholarship on proficiency in long-term insurance at the Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) and I topped the marks and got awarded the scholarship,”  he  explained.

He said even though he was being paid little at Santos, he was never fazed as his ambitions were to get as many qualifications and opportunities as he could through football, and he also did a certificate in Central Continuous Education (CCE) at the University of Botswana.

The former Zebras player, who was robust during his playing days and played under Jelusic Veselin, Colwyn Rowe and Stanley Tshosane, said having covered ICT doing CCE at UB, he landed a job at a company and was responsible for stock control and distribution for Orange Botswana.

He revealed that he landed the job through the help of UFS vice chairman, Andrew Chipedi.

Motlhabane had another job offer in customs and he accepted it since he had the necessary qualifications he acquired while playing and relocated to Martin’s Drift.

After garnering experience, he formed his own company in 2014 and has been doing well in the customs brokering market and has clients all over Southern Africa.

Furthermore, Motlhabane said as former players there was a lot they could do to impart their knowledge to the current players, but that they face obstacles.

“Our current football system is not that healthy,” asserted Motlhabane.

He said a lot of players play football for the limelight and do not look at their post playing days.  ENDS