Talk Talk's death: Time to walk the talk

Mqondisi Dube | Tuesday April 14, 2026 10:55

His death has ignited talk about the welfare of football players in an industry that is time sensitive. Football players are adored during their short playing days, drawing large crowds to stadiums, but most die a lonely death, away from the adulations of the fans.

Talk Talk was not necessarily lost to the game or forgotten by the crowd largely due to his larger than life character. But beneath the popularity, 'Talk Talk' did not live a glamorous life post his playing days.

He was not a pauper by any stretch of imagination, but equally, his status did not deserve that of a footballer who gave it all for the nation in a nearly two-decade long career at the top. What did he have to show for his scars, accrued across a career that took him to the zenith of continental football in 2012?

Talk Talk's story is not isolated, but it is a wider representation of an industry that has given nations heroes, but who sadly depart this world without the possessions that justify their status. The mismatch has been glaring, as people often talk and openly mock players' struggles beyond their playing days.

It is for this reason that the likes of Ernest Molome, the former Mochudi Centre Chiefs chairperson and Footballers Union of Botswana (FUB) president, Onalethata Tshekiso stirred an hornet’s nest during Talk Talk's memorial service last Thursday. Their call to re-look into the player's welfare must jolt authorities into action. It is time to walk the talk. Someone candidly asked what legend, when Talk Talk did not even have a piece of land to his name.

Tshekiso was more forthright. Footballers are the main attractions at stadiums, and therefore should reap the rewards. What is good is that as FUB president, Tshekiso has the power to influence a new course of direction, amid a push to have footballers insured.

This will serve as a safety net beyond their players’ days, rather than retire to a life of misery where the world moves on as if a football hero never existed. Molome made his promises as well.

He will do all in his power to ensure an accelerated approach to the players' welfare. But here lies the danger; post the pain, post the tears, post the excruciating sound of a coffin carrying the body of a football idol going down; there could be deadly silence.

We usually say, something was said in the heat of the moment. The hope is that all the talk was not because of the Talk Talk heat of the moment.

This should be the birth of a revolution. Some are calling for the renaming of the Lobatse Sports Complex to Tshepo Motlhabankwe Stadium. Fine, but that does not feed the body.

Start with sustainable programmes like the insurance scheme, and then move on to issues of sentimental value later. Let Talk Talk's death spark a rallying call beyond the graveside speeches. There must be momentum now going forward, not to wait for the death of another legend to re-open the subject.