Vilakazi gets P50,000 golden handshake
Thato Kala | Thursday March 27, 2014 12:41
After being confronted over unfair dismissal, BMC tried to get out of the Vilakazi hot soup by making him coach of the junior side. The former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns star accepted the role, but later changed his mind, opting for an exit package.
Vilakazi returned to South Africa on Saturday after receiving his pay-off apparently to search for a new club.
The two parties, with the help of the Footballers’ Union of Botswana (FUB) have been negotiating for an exit package after the player decided he still wanted another season of football.
Vilakazi was left with three months on his contract when BMC dismissed him.
BMC welfare manager, Nelson Radijeng, who would neither confirm nor deny the figure they paid the player, explained that they sought the help of the Ministry of Labour on the package.
“The most important thing is that he was quite happy with what we gave him and we are also satisfied.
We approached Labour to find out how to handle the issue and they gave us some guidelines,” Radijeng said.
Although he would not confirm the figure, highly placed club sources confirmed it was P50,000 which included Vilakazi’s leave days.
“They actually gave him P50,000 which also included pay for his leave days.
He obviously felt it was a fair deal and he left on Saturday for South Africa,” said a source.
Meanwhile, Radijeng said Vilakazi had pointed out that he wanted to acquire coaching certificates in South Africa while he is still a player. He said the door was still open for the player to return to BMC once he got his coaching certificates.
The club has earmarked Vilakazi as the man to drive their junior programmes. BMC is expected to form an Under-17 side soon.
Vilakazi is not new to coaching, having held fort at Swazi Premier League side, Malanti Chiefs in February last year, following the departure of the then coach, Kenny Ndlazi.
He joined BMC in November last year as a player after a botched stint with Notwane and was to stay until end of the season.
However, the club’s technical team felt his performances did not warrant such a long stay.