Orlando Pirates star Kabelo Dlamini may be missing game time this season, but MC Alger coach Rulani Mokwena still sees a Bafana Bafana playmaker.
Since former coach Jose Riveiro, Dlamini, 29, has been restricted to seven appearances in the 2025/26 Betway Premiership.
FORMER ORLANDO PIRATES COACH RULANI MOKWENA SENDS A MESSAGE TO HUGO BROOS?
With Themba Zwane battling fitness, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos raised the issue of finding a creative “number 10.” Broos has since looked to the Buccaneers pair Patrick Maswanganyi and Sipho Mbule, two players whom new Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou also seems to favour over Dlamini.
According to Mokwena, Dlamini, who delivered two goals and two assists in nine games when he coached Orlando Pirates in the 2019/20 season, has the talent Broos needs.
“There are a lot of players that can play the 10 role, but it depends on the type of players around them,” Mokwena said during a chat with the South African Football Journalists Association (SAFJA), as quoted by FARPost. “Kabelo Dlamini is an incredible number 10 for me as an option [for Bafana], and he does very well with a striker like Tshegofatso Mabasa.”
Mokwena also took the moment to highlight a CAF Champions League moment: a sublime Dlamini assist against St-Eloi Lupopo for Oswin Appollis. For Rulani, it was a classy number 10’s true vision.
A REGULAR UNDER JOSE RIVEIRO
Under former Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro, Dlamini was a regular, packing in 44 appearances last season alone, scoring four goals and setting up eight more.
The Daveyton-born midfielder worked his way up from the Bloemfontein Celtic DStv Diski Challenge team in 2017 before joining the Sea Robbers in 2019. Since then, he’s counted 194 appearances for the Soweto giants, along with 21 goals and 22 assists. His last run with Bafana came during the 2025 Cosafa Cup in June.
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