Gift Dala

Central Midfielder - Platinum Stars
27 Sep 2026
Sunday
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Marked for Gift Dala

8 Edition

The Platinum Stars Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match19 Sep 2026

No mercy from Platinum Stars

Bidvest Wits will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Platinum Stars were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad21 Sep 2026

A day Khama Zwane will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad21 Sep 2026

Gift Dala in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platinum Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad21 Sep 2026

Evidence Mabunda 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.

Player ratings21 Sep 2026

A masterclass from Khama Zwane

Marked 9.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match19 Sep 2026

Bidvest Wits blown away early

There is a particular helplessness in conceding 3 times before the twentieth minute. Bidvest Wits tried to reorganise, Platinum Stars did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.

Squad21 Sep 2026

Ronwen Dala gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market21 Sep 2026

Ronwen Billiat linked with a move away

The name of Ronwen Billiat keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Platinum Stars say nothing, which says plenty.

Player ratings21 Sep 2026

Sifiso Zwane ran the game

Chances created: 8. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.

In brief

Back issues
7 Edition

The Platinum Stars Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings14 Sep 2026

Nobody could get near Antonio Van Wyk

Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match9 Sep 2026

Platinum Stars out of the cup

Orlando Pirates ended it 0‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Player ratings14 Sep 2026

Mandla Billiat could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.07

Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.07, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.

The terraces14 Sep 2026

A cup hiding at Orlando Pirates leaves Platinum Stars explaining themselves

0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.

Market14 Sep 2026

Khama Zwane raises the bar for Platinum Stars

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Platinum Stars heard it as anything else.

Squad14 Sep 2026

Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evidence Mabunda 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.

Squad14 Sep 2026

The manager makes an example of Gift Dala

“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.

Boardroom14 Sep 2026

Doors closed at Platinum Stars

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Match12 Sep 2026

Mandla Billiat rescues a point for Platinum Stars

It needed Mandla Billiat to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Golden Arrows, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

3 Edition

The Platinum Stars Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings17 Aug 2026

Ronwen Billiat, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80

A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Player ratings17 Aug 2026

A defender's goal wins it for Platinum Stars — 7.43

1 for Erick Phiri, marked 7.43, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Squad17 Aug 2026

Tempers go at Platinum Stars

Gift Dala 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.

Squad17 Aug 2026

Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evidence Mabunda 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 terraces17 Aug 2026

Platinum Stars supporters have found a favourite in Ronwen Billiat

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Ronwen Billiat has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match15 Aug 2026

Platinum Stars see off Kaizer Chiefs

Three points for Platinum Stars, 2‑0 the final word against Kaizer Chiefs in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad17 Aug 2026

No hiding place for Andile Kekana

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andile Kekana, and the manager let it.

Squad17 Aug 2026

A Platinum Stars teenager takes the young player award

Ronwen Billiat is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.

Player ratings17 Aug 2026

Nobody could get near Gift Phiri

Successful dribbles: 9. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

2 Edition

The Platinum Stars Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad10 Aug 2026

Khama Zwane signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khama Zwane and Platinum Stars agree another 4 years.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Tempers go at Platinum Stars

Gift Dala 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.

Boardroom10 Aug 2026

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Platinum Stars

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Words at Platinum Stars training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evidence Mabunda 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.

Market10 Aug 2026

Platinum Stars promote Gift Erasmus from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gift Erasmus has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market10 Aug 2026

One of our own: Thamsanqa Mkhize joins the Platinum Stars first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Thamsanqa Mkhize is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market10 Aug 2026

One of our own: Percy Mabunda joins the Platinum Stars first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Percy Mabunda is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market10 Aug 2026

One of our own: Thulani Furman joins the Platinum Stars first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Thulani Furman is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad10 Aug 2026

The manager makes an example of Gift Dala

“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.

In brief