The recent players to have worn the No 7 jersey for Kaizer Chiefs have failed to cover it in glory but does this curse have its roots with Kaizer Motaung Junior?
Kaizer Chiefs’ current No 7 is the much-maligned Ranga Chivaviro.
Is there a curse on No 7 at Kaizer Chiefs?
Chivaviro’s most memorable moment for Kaizer Chiefs to date was his missed penalty in the Nedbank Cup loss to Milford FC.
This curse goes back a bit further though with Lazarous Kambole being the man who held the No 7 jersey at Kaizer Chiefs before Chivaviro.
Kambole was a bigger hit with PSL meme pages than he was in the Premiership itself. Some took his presence in the Kaizer Chiefs squad as an indication of low standards at Naturena. Kambole was a cult hero for some, but largely for banter value. Looking back further doesn’t improve the outlook.
The last player to don No 7 with some respectability was William Twala but he only spent three seasons at Chiefs and wore the number for just two of those terms. Even then Twala appeared to decline once he took over the cursed number.
While respected former Bafana Bafana forward Katlego Mphela donned the No 7 jersey when Kaizer Chiefs last won the Premiership, he played just four matches in that campaign. He left soon after and never reached his peak again. Did the curse strike again?
The last player to really enjoy a substantial run in the No 7 jersey is the club’s current Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Junior.
Junior was Amakhosi’s No 7 for eight seasons from 2006 until 2013 which was the last time a player wearing that number has been significant to the Chiefs cause in a positive sense.
Playing at the club that his family built obviously came with a certain stigma for Motaung but he was a good hand for Chiefs and for Bafana Bafana.
A family hex
The low points of Kaizer Motaung Junior’s eight-season run might be the genesis of fan belief in a curse on No 7s at Naturena.
For this reason, some fans want the jersey to be quietly retired from the rotation, but not as an honour to Junior. Cited often, the curse of the number is an axe fans love to grind.
The No 7 curse debate cuts across a deep division between the club’s ruling family and the fans. It is about more than a number. Rooting in a fundamental division gives this curse its power. Fans will bring it up when they are unhappy.
Despite efforts to hype him up Chivaviro is one of a number of Kaizer Chiefs players fans are not impressed with and it makes it worse that many didn’t feel he was good enough for the Black and Gold.
Until Kaizer Chiefs put a true star in that jersey the spectre of the Kaizer Motaung Junior curse will hang over the Glamour Boys. Where would this man come from though?
Is Junior’s curse real? Let us know in the comments.
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