Rhulani Mokwena
Personal information
Full name Rhulani Mokwena[1]
Date of birth (1987-01-09) January 9, 1987
Place of birth Johannesburg, South Africa[2]
Team information
Current team
 Mamelodi Sundowns
Youth career
Years Team
Silver Stars
Managerial career
2014–2017 Mamelodi Sundowns (assistant)
2017–2020 Orlando Pirates (assistant)
2019 Orlando Pirates (interim)
2020 Chippa United (interim)
2020–2022 Mamelodi Sundowns (co-coach)
2022– Mamelodi Sundowns

Rhulani Mokwena (born January 9, 1987) is a South African football manager who is the manager of Mamelodi Sundowns.

The son of former Orlando Pirates player Julias Sono, and nephew to Jomo Sono, Mokwena hails from a footballing family and started his professional coaching career in the youth systems at Silver Stars, before serving as an assistant manager at Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates. In 2019, he became interim manager of the latter club, holding the position for five months, before being appointed as the head coach at Chippa United the following year.

Early career

Mokwena's first notable foray into football came at Silver Stars, later known as Platinum Stars, where he honed his skills under coaches such as Steve Komphela, Cavin Johnson and Allan Freese.[3] In 2014, he joined Mamelodi Sundowns where, after excelling with the club's development team, he was promoted to be one of manager Pitso Mosimane's assistant managers, alongside Manqoba Mngqithi and Alex Bapela.[4] Mokwena stayed with Masandawana until 2017, helping the club win the 2016 CAF Champions League title, before taking up a role as the assistant manager to Milutin Sredojević at Orlando Pirates.[5]

Managerial career

Orlando Pirates

In August 2019, after Sredojević unexpectedly resigned at Pirates, Mokwena was named as the new interim-manager of the club and he marked his managerial debut with a 1-0 MTN 8 defeat to Highlands Park.[6] Over the next five months, he took charge of 14 matches, winning four, drawing five and losing five, before returning to the assistant manager's role following the appointment of Josef Zinnbauer in December.[7]

Chippa United

On 4 March 2020, Mokwena left Zinnbauer's side after being appointed as the head coach of fellow Premier Division side Chippa United on a short-term deal.[8] However, his time with the club was disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak, which saw the league suspended later that month, and by the end of his contract in June he had overseen just one match in charge for the season.[9]

Mamelodi Sundowns

In 2020 Mokwena became co-coach of Mamelodi Sundowns alongside Manqoba Mngqithi. In October 2022, "Mngqithi was assigned to a new role as Sundowns' senior coach in what is a demotion from the position of co-coach. He will now be working under new head coach Rhulani Mokwena", Goal.com reported.[10]

Career statistics

Manager

As of match played 30 December 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Orlando Pirates (interim) 17 August 2019 10 December 2019[7] 14 4 5 5 028.6
Chippa United (interim) 4 March 2020 30 June 2020[9] 1 0 1 0 000.0
Mamelodi Sundowns 4 October 2020 Present[11] 120 76 35 9 063.3
Total 135 80 41 14 059.3

Honours

Manager

Mamelodi Sundowns

Domestic

CAF

  • African Football League: 2023

References

  1. ↑ Rhulani Mokwena at Soccerway. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "Who is Rhulani Mokwena, Mamelodi Sundowns' new head coach?". Sportsbrief. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  3. ↑ "Rhulani reflects on past under Komphela". Kick Off. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. ↑ Fakude, Ernest (6 October 2014). "Pitso confirms Mokwena appointment". Kick Off. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. ↑ Lihaiwa, Rofhiwa (31 December 2017). "Sono: Mokwena decided on his own". Kick Off. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. ↑ "Rollercoaster As Mokwena Steps Into Pirates Hot Seat". Soccer Laduma. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  7. 1 2 Kohler, Lorenz (10 December 2019). "What to expect from new Pirates coach". Kick Off. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  8. ↑ "Chippa Officially Announce New Coach!". Soccer Laduma. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  9. 1 2 Dladla, Nkululeko (24 June 2020). "Rhulani leaving Chippa - confirmed". Kick Off. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  10. ↑ Madyira, Michael (25 October 2022). "Mngqithi: Agent of Mamelodi Sundowns senior coach was unaware of changes with Mokwena". Goal.com. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "Rhulani Mokwena". Playmakerstats. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
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