Marked for Thamsanqa Mkhize
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 May 2027
Pentjie Zulu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Black Aces they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom17 May 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Pentjie Zulu has agreed terms with Platinum Stars for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad17 May 2027
S'fiso Hlanti and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Black Aces
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thami Mkhize was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 May 2027
The medical room confirms 42 days on the sidelines for Thamsanqa Mkhize, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad17 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kermit Mothiba and Black Aces agree another 3 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Apr 2027
Gift Manyama hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Apr 2027
S'fiso Hlanti was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Thami Mkhize falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thami Mkhize is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bongani Phiri and Black Aces agree another 2 years.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Ronwen Lorch gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ronwen Lorch is on it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Khama Dolly asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
S'fiso Hlanti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Thami Mkhize falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad5 Apr 2027
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Black Aces will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Black Aces, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Mar 2027
Gift Manyama hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2027
S'fiso Hlanti and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Thami Mkhize falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Siyabonga Hlatshwayo commits to Black Aces for another 3 years.
Squad22 Mar 2027
S'fiso Hlanti was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Thami Mkhize falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad22 Mar 2027
34 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Bongani Phiri
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Mar 2027
Erick Lorch hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thami Mkhize and Black Aces agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
S'fiso Hlanti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Black Aces
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thami Mkhize was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Mar 2027
43 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Bongani Erasmus
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Feb 2027
16 matches without a win for Black Aces
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Black Aces are no longer polite ones.
Match1 Mar 2027
Full time on the season at Black Aces
Position 13 on 21 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad1 Mar 2027
S'fiso Hlanti and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Black Aces
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thami Mkhize was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match27 Feb 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Ronwen Mokoena slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ronwen Mokoena is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ramahlwe Lorch was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Black Aces dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Sep 2026
The cup run ends for Black Aces
1‑3 against Kaizer Chiefs, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market14 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Sep 2026
S'fiso Hlanti and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thami Mkhize is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ronwen Phiri
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Morgan Zungu beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Ronwen Lorch gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ronwen Lorch is on it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ramahlwe Lorch after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 6 in, 2 out at Black Aces
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
S'fiso Hlanti was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Black Aces will try again when the window opens; Maritzburg United may not be selling by then.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Ramahlwe Lorch could afford to be generous.