Vilakazi comes clean on his controversial TS Galaxy exit

Sibusiso Vilakazi has revealed the reasons he was not focused on his job at TS Galaxy – he was released in January under suspect circumstances. 

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Speaking on Vilakazi’s exit in a few interviews, Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic made it look like it was for a lack of commitment from the veteran attacker. 

Vilakazi had joined Galaxy in June after leaving Mamelodi Sundowns where he had served with commitment for over four years, as he had in a previous long spell at Bidvest Wits.

Ramovic’s words agitated Vilakazi’s former coach at Sundowns Pitso Mosimane who came out in his defence. 

But now the 33-year-old has admitted that he could not focus fully on his job at Galaxy and gave the reasons.

“My child’s illness disturbed me a lot. It got to the point where we couldn’t sleep anymore,” said Vilakazi, as quoted by Isolezwe this week. 

“He was fainting and convulsing. At night this thing has been happening to him 10 to 14 times. We had to take him out of school. This continued even when he was in the hospital,” Vilakazi said.

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He said he asked for time to be with his family during the height of his baby’s sickness. 

“I asked the team to give me time to pay attention to my child’s health because his illness was bothering me… 

“But I continued to go to work. My child needed me more than football,” explains Vilakazi.

“I came back to continue in the team even though he had not recovered before the trip to Turkey.”

TS Galaxy went on a training camp to Turkey during the Premier Soccer League down time due to the Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

In January, things started to improve. That’s when I also started to be able to focus on football. 

“We played against Swallows, after that the coach told me not to come to the gym the next day.

“That’s when I started training with the DStv Diski Challenge team, waiting to be called back to the big squad but that didn’t happen. 

“Due to the circumstances that I saw were not good for me at the DDC team, after a week I went back to the coach to talk to him because I wanted to help the team.

Surprised by Ramovic’s words

“I humbled myself, I apologised to him and to all the people that I may have disappointed or who saw that I was not giving myself. 

“But the coach told me that he doesn’t need me because of the way he plays and the tactics he uses, and told me to talk to Tim (Sukazi). 

“I said goodbye, we shook hands. That’s when I parted ways with the team,” added Vilakazi. 

He however admits that he was surprised by what the coach said about him in the media because they had never had any fights. 

“He didn’t say anything to me about my lack of commitment or the way I was doing things in the team while I was there. 

“I was surprised to see in the news what he had said about me. If that is how he feels about me, then I apologise. 

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“We agreed nicely with the team to part ways. Things didn’t work out for us and that happens in football. 

“I don’t understand where what he says now comes from. I am shocked,” said Vilakazi.