As the PSL season reaches its midway point, former Orlando Pirates
winger Daine Klate has singled out midfielder Sipho Mbule as the standout
performer for the table-topping Buccaneers.
Pirates have dominated the early silverware, securing the MTN8, Carling
Knockout, and the Carling All-Stars Cup, with several players emerging as
contenders for individual accolades. When asked who has impressed him most
this campaign, Klate was emphatic.
“Ahh, ‘Master Chef’ (Sipho Mbule)! What a guy!” Klate told the Siya crew.
“There have been a lot of media reports, and mentally, to go through what he
has gone through… I think he has stood out head and shoulders above the
rest.”
Klate placed Mbule in the same elite category as playmaker Patrick ‘Tito’
Maswanganyi, musing about the quality of their partnership. “He has joined
‘Tito’ there. Those types of players, when the chefs are together at a
table, what is the conversation between them? Because they are that good.”
The former star also highlighted the transformative impact of Pirates’
off-season signings, particularly Mbule and Oswin Appollis, both products of
the SuperSport United development system.
“As a collective, Pirates have looked really good, but I think Sipho Mbule
for me (has stood out). Oswin Appollis also has made a huge difference!
Those two signings have been a revelation for Pirates; it just enhanced
them,” Klate explained.
He attributed their immediate success to the winning mentality instilled at
SuperSport. “I won’t say Pirates were not that good, but Mbule and Appollis
just enhanced them… I’m from SuperSport myself. The values that get
instilled in you there, the winning mentality—that’s the most important
thing. I’m so happy to see them doing so well because they are from that
system.”
With Pirates firing on all cylinders, Klate’s praise underscores how the
integration of these former SuperSport talents has been a key ingredient in
the club’s formidable run.
