Happy Jele hopes Pirates door not closed

Erstwhile Orlando Pirates skipper Happy “Magents” Jele is confident that the offer the Buccaneers gave him before joining Royal AM still stands.

Pirates offered Jele a non-playing role when his contract expired at the end of the 2021/22 season but the defender was still eager to play, hence he turned it down to join Royal AM.

“I think they waited for me because what I remember, when we had talks, I said I wanted to go and play and the club gave me that blessing to say, ‘go and finish and once you feel you are okay, you can come’...the door is still open. So when I retire, I think I will go there and talk to them and see what’s going to happen,” Jele told the media at a Carling Black Label event in Braamfontein at the weekend.

However, the 36-year-old Jele, who only joined Royal in February, is also bearing it in mind that the offer might not be there when he finally hangs up his boots. Jele did not want to reveal when exactly his Royal deal would expire, saying he still wanted to add value there.

“We can’t predict the future. If the job is no longer there, it’s fine, I need to go somewhere else and work but for now the ball is still in our court, me and the team,” Jele said.

While his contract at Thwihli Thwahla is understood to be lapsing at the end of February 2024 , Jele has insisted that he is still good to carry on. “For now, I am still taking care of myself and I can still run with the young guys. God will lead me to say ‘now it’s time to retire, my boy’. I am still a Royal AM player and I won’t reveal for how long,” Jele said.

“They want to compete with bigger teams...they want to win trophies for themselves, so for me it is just to be there and try my best to help the team.”