Former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Andre Arendse came out in defence of Veli Mothwa whose mistake in goal for the national team and his club AmaZulu hurt both sides in a matter of two weeks. (Darren Stewart/Gallo Images)
- Andre Arendse defended the embattled Veli Mothwa, saying the country needs to protect the keeper who has made costly mistakes for club and country recently.
- In the space of two weeks, Mothwa committed errors that saw Bafana and AmaZulu drop points – in the 2-2 draw with Uganda and Usuthu’s 2-1 loss to Polokwane City.
- Arendse, whose howler at the 2002 FIFA World Cup cost Bafana dearly, says he understands what Mothwa is going through, which is why he is supporting him.
- For more Bafana news, please visit the News24 dedicated national teams’ page.
Former Bafana Bafana No 1 Andre Arendse defended Veli Mothwa after the goalkeeper’s mistakes cost his country and club in a matter of two weeks.
Mothwa stood in for the injured Ronwen Williams in Bafana’s 2-2 draw with Uganda at Orlando Stadium in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
But the AmaZulu goalkeeper’s moment in the sun ended in darkness as he committed two mistakes that led to the goals by the Cranes.
The almost two-metre-tall goalkeeper was caught out of position in the first goal, which was a rocket from Denis Omedi.
The second was a moment he would like to forget.
He fluffed a speculative shot from Rogers Mato, with his soft hands not only letting the ball slip between his fingers, but potentially also his international career now that Williams is back while Ricardo Goss and Sipho Chaine are fighting to be the No 2.
Eight days after his howler in the Bafana jersey, Mothwa also made a crucial mistake with Usuthu.
The 33-year-old failed to hang onto a harmless aerial ball, with his error landing the ball onto the path of Polokwane City’s Thabang Matuludi, who scored in referees’ optional time.
Matuludi’s goal gave Rise and Shine maximum points in the 2-1 win over Usuthu.
“We’ve got to protect him! I know, I have been there,” said Arendse, a 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winner with Bafana.
“You cannot feel any worse than Veli is feeling now, and it will be with him for a while. It happened to me at the biggest stage in football.
“I know what he is going through. We have to help him. We have to protect him. Whether that’s keeping him playing, or giving him a rest, talking to him and rebuilding his confidence.
“The one thing about goalkeeping is that it’s a thankless job because there is no margin for error. When we are developing people, we have to allow [room] for mistakes. We have got to help goalkeepers improve from the mistakes because they will happen.
He continued:
“If we start breaking people down, then that is not good for our football. Veli can’t be a bad player overnight. It is totally the opposite. We’ve got to be seen helping people, and that is how we are going to develop.”
Arendse committed a grave error in Bafana colours at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
He spilled an innocuous ball onto the path of Spain’s Raul, who punished Bafana as La Roja won 3-2 in the final group stage of the tournament. Bafana needed to draw that match to advance to the knockout stage.
READ | Big shoes to fill as Bafana’s No 1: ‘No such thing as too early for Chaine,’ says Arendse
It’s a mistake that haunts Arendse to this day. But he soldiered on, going on to become Bafana’s most capped goalkeeper with 67 appearances. That was until Itumeleng Khune broke that record, setting a new marker with his 91 caps.
Mothwa was dropped by Bafana coach Hugo Broos after his mistake. It remains to be seen whether he will call him up for next month’s back-to-back Afcon qualifiers against Congo.
Arendse is not the only person to defend Mothwa. His coach, Pablo Franco Martin, also stepped in to protect him after the loss to City.
“We need to recover him because he’s our main goalkeeper,” said Martin.
“He is the only (AmaZulu) player since I came here that’s with Bafana Bafana and that’s because of something. Now, we have to see if he can get back to his best as soon as possible.
“He had a good game until that moment. The way he conceded, he could do nothing from the situation. He was managing well, communicating well with the defence when he needed to leave the box to defend the through balls from the runs of the strikers. He was accurate.”
Mothwa’s mistake and goalkeeping instability at Bafana following the injury to Williams exposed the lack of depth in the department for the national team.
Williams, the Yacine Trophy-nominated goalkeeper at the Ballon d’Or awards, showed his class for Sundowns when he returned in the Champions League against Mbabane Swallows and in the premiership against his former club, SuperSport United.
Arendse – who is SuperSport’s assistant coach and a former Bafana goalkeeper coach – admitted that there is a big gap between Williams and the rest of South African goalkeepers.
“Ronwen set the bar very high,” said Arendse. “Very, very high with goalkeeping in this country. He is unmatched at the moment. There is no question about that. That has been the case for a while. It is up to the other goalkeepers to lift their standards and levels.
“That’s a personal thing. That comes from in here (the heart) and in there (the mind). Ronwen’s got that about him. In terms of ability, there is no questioning that goalkeeping is in good hands from an international perspective.
“I have no doubt about that. But recent performances have proved that when Ronwen doesn’t play, he leaves a big gap in the team. That’s not being negative to other goalkeepers. It’s there for all to see. It is up to them to close that gap as much as they can.
“So, from a goalkeeping perspective, we as coaches have a lot of work to do.”
