Playing in second division not a downgrade – Kewuti

Maritzburg United skipper Zukile Kewuti, who was once tipped by Benni McCarthy for bigger things, has opened up about how he's taken the decline of his career on the chin, also revealing the role McCarthy still plays in his life.

Kewuti cut his professional teeth at Cape Town City as a 23-year-old under McCarthy in January 2019. McCarthy also signed Kewuti for his next club, AmaZulu, in February 2021. The all-time Bafana Bafana leading scorer, who's now mentoring forwards at Manchester United, also recommended Kewuti to Gavin Hunt to sign him for SuperSport United in January 2023.

At AmaZulu and SuperSport, Kewuti struggled to reproduce the kind of form that made McCarthy fall in love with him at City, hence he's finding himself playing in the second-tier with the Team of Choice. Kewuti has embraced the changes in his career, insisting he still loves the beautiful game.

"Sometimes as a person you go up and sometimes you go down, so going down to play in the NFD hasn't really affected me. What is important for me is that I am still playing and I still love the game the same way I've been loving it growing up. I am enjoying myself and I am confident that I will still play in the [Premiership],'' the soft-spoken Kewuti told Sowetan on the sidelines of the Nedbank Cup last 16 draw at SuperSport Studios in Randburg on Monday.

Kewuti also disclosed how McCarthy encouraged him to take playing for Maritzburg in the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) positively, with the former City and Usuthu coach believing being in the MFC will toughen him up mentally. 

"I still speak with coach Benni. When I joined Maritzburg he told me that I shouldn't look at it as a downgrade and that the good thing is that I am not lost in the system. He said maybe this is a journey I had to experience to be stronger than before, mentally. I am the captain and I'd never thought that one day I'd captain a team, so I am really in a good space my man,'' Kewuti explained.

Maritzburg were drawn away to Mamelodi Sundowns in the Ke Yona Cup last 16. "It will be a tough game but we will show up and fight as a team,'' Kewuti noted.

The league hadn't confirmed dates and venues for the round of 16 fixtures by yesterday.