Premier Soccer League debuts loom for Kaizer Chiefs young keepers as Brandon Petersen lays out red carpet for Amakhosi starlets 'I am looking forward to working with them'

Premier Soccer League debuts for Kaizer Chiefs' emerging goalkeepers could be looming, as the number one keeper, Brandon Petersen, has welcomed them into the senior team.

DDC's Takalani Mazhamba and Naphtali Mokoena have been training with the first team, meaning they are already learning under Petersen and the club's coaching staff. Mazhamba was also part of the squad that travelled to Zambia to take on ZESCO United in a CAF Confederation Cup duel.

Now, Petersen, who has kept 11 clean sheets and conceded 12 goals in 22 games across all competitions this season, has welcomed the duo.

Mokoena has been Amakhosi’s first-option keeper in the DDC this term, while Mazhamba was Amajita’s second-choice goalkeeper behind Fletcher Hani Smythe-Lowe at the U20 World Cup in Chile last October.

The challenge the two will face is stiff competition from the other senior team goalkeepers, Bontle Molefe, Fiacre Ntwari, and Bruce Bvuma.

“I am looking forward to working with them more and seeing them make their debuts very soon. Takalani and Naphy are both very good," Petersen told Sowetan Live.

"They are different types of goalkeepers, but there are a few attributes they both have, like talent and humility.”

“The younger ones, Takalani and Naphy [Mokoena], are very good goalkeepers... They have shown at the [DStv Diski Challenge] DDC level in the games they have played, and many people have been speaking about them,” he added.

“For me, it’s important to have them as part of the first team because that’s the next step for them... It [training with the first team] lights up that fire in the belly to say that ‘this is where I want to be’, and once you are part of that setup, you don’t want to look back; you motivate yourself because that’s where you want to be.”

When Ntwari was signed from TS Galaxy, many expected he would fill the void left by Khune, but that has not been the case. The Rwandan international took time to settle and has fallen down the pecking order, and his struggle and the coaches' preference for Petersen mean that his exit could be looming.

Bvuma was a subject of criticism last season owing to goalkeeping errors he committed, and for that reason, he has ended up playing second fiddle to Petersen.

The emergence of Mazhamba and Mokoena means only one thing to them: shape up or ship out.

Mazhamba and Mokoena's rising prominence at Chiefs has come at a time when a goalkeeping crisis has been predicted for Bafana Bafana.

The current first, second, and third choices are heading to their career sunsets, and the fact that there are fewer South African goalkeepers coming up through the ranks of various PSL clubs is a problem that has been pointed out.

Ronwen Williams, 33; Sipho Chaine, 29; and Ricardo Goss, 31, were the Bafana Bafana goalkeepers who were in Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations, and their ages have advanced.

In the PSL, foreign goalkeepers have always been preferred as first choice; at Chippa United, Nigeria's Stanley Nwabali is undisputed, and Kenya's Ian Otieno and Uganda's Jamal Salim Magoola are the leading keepers at Richards Bay.

Brian Bwire has been massively depended on by Polokwane City, and at Magesi, Zimbabwe's Elvis Chipezeze has been their go-to goalkeeper. At Mamelodi Sundowns, Denis Onyango served for a long time before Williams was signed and became the number one choice.

Apart from Petersen at Chiefs, Williams at Sundowns, and Chaine at Pirates, Renaldo Leaner is another South African who has been impressive for Sekhukhune United.

Former Chiefs goalkeeper Brian Baloyi blamed PSL clubs for over-reliance on foreign goalkeepers and the failure to develop homegrown talents.

“We have a South African problem at the moment. If you look at the PSL, close to 60 per cent of the clubs are playing foreign goalkeepers," Baloyi said.

“It’s a problem that cannot be addressed by the PSL or the clubs alone, because both are businesses at the end of the day. They are focused on results and on finding players who are ready-made.”

“As much as there is talent coming through club development systems, that talent is often developed for the benefit of the club, not necessarily for the benefit of the country."

It is a concern that was previously raised by former SuperSport United assistant coach Andre Arendse.