Themba Zwane addresses retirement talk as injuries wreak havoc on Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana playmaker

Themba Zwane’s nagging injuries are increasingly threatening to end the Mamelodi Sundowns captain’s playing career. 

At 36, the Bafana Bafana vice-skipper finds himself at an age where any fitness setback carries a high risk of not fully recovering. 

Although he has returned to training, Zwane is limited to light ball work and has not yet resumed full sessions with the rest of the Masandawana squad. 

Already before the recent episodes of injuries struck, Zwane would struggle to last 90 minutes in a game and both Masandawana and national team coaches were cautious in fielding him.

His fitness battles have fuelled speculation that he might be edging closer to forced retirement.

The veteran midfielder has since come out to address the growing talk about the possibility of hanging up his boots sooner than he had anticipated.

 “To be honest, I will say, as long as God gives me strength, I will still be there in the field and push myself,” Zwane told iDiski Times.    

“But when the time is right, I will also raise my hands and say, ‘Now it’s time’.”

This highlights Zwane is not ready to call time on his career to continue playing, that would depend on how he keeps himself fit. 

Zwane is now racing against time to be fit for the 2025 AFCON finals, with the tournament fast approaching. 

The limited window before the competition leaves the veteran midfielder with very little time to regain full match fitness and reach the sharpness required at such a demanding stage of football. 

Should he be fit to go to Morocco, Zwane's experience will be crucial for Bafana, especially since he has featured at AFCON twice before, in 2019 and in the last edition in Ivory Coast. 

While Zwane has been sidelined, Bafana coach Hugo Broos has used the opportunity to test various players who might fill the void. 

The Belgian trainer focused on the Orlando Pirates duo Sipho Mbule and Patrick Mswanganyi as possible alternatives. 

Both midfielders have been handed opportunities to show they can shoulder the responsibility of being the team’s chief playmaker and Mbule appears to have passed the test while Maswanganyi has been frozen out of the national side recently.

However, Broos will still be hoping that Zwane regains fitness in time, as his return would add much-needed creativity in the Bafana midfield. Should Zwane be present at the 2025 Afcon finals, he will add calmness, leadership and stability to the Bafana Bafana squad. 

While concern has been in midfield to find a playmaker of his calibre, Zwane has turned his focus on Bafana forwards.

He believes the likes of Evidence Makgopa, Lyle Foster and Iqraam Rayners can deliver for the national team. 

“Ja, to be honest, the three of them, they are quality, with different qualities that they have,” Zwane said. 

“Makgopa will give you a different dimension. Even Foster will give you different dimensions, even Rayners. So, for me, I think they offer different things at the highest level.  

"They are quality. And for me, when I play with them, I mean, it’s that understanding, obviously starting at training, obviously knowing for sure that if I play with Lyle, I need to act like this. If I play with Makgopa, I need to act like this; it’s that understanding, that’s all.”