Rhulani Mlungisi Mokwena (born 9 January 1987) is a South African football manager who is the manager of Wydad AC.
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rhulani Mlungisi Mokwena [1] | ||
| Date of birth | 9 January 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Johannesburg, South Africa[2] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Wydad AC (coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| Silver Stars | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2014–2017 | Mamelodi Sundowns (assistant) | ||
| 2017–2020 | Orlando Pirates (assistant) | ||
| 2019 | Orlando Pirates (interim) | ||
| 2020 | Chippa United (interim) | ||
| 2020–2022 | Mamelodi Sundowns (co-coach) | ||
| 2022–2024 | Mamelodi Sundowns | ||
| 2024– | Wydad AC | ||
The son of former Orlando Pirates player Julias Sono Hloae , and nephew to Jomo Sono, Mokwena hails from a footballing family and started his professional coaching career in the youth systems at Silver Stars, before serving as an assistant manager at Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates. In 2019, he became interim manager of the latter club, holding the position for five months, before being appointed as the head coach at Chippa United the following year.
Early career
Mokwena's first notable foray into football came at Silver Stars, later known as Platinum Stars, where he honed his skills under coaches such as Steve Komphela, Cavin Johnson and Allan Freese.[3] In 2014, he joined Mamelodi Sundowns where, after excelling with the club's development team, he was promoted to be one of manager Pitso Mosimane's assistant managers, alongside Manqoba Mngqithi and Alex Bapela.[4] Mokwena stayed with Masandawana until 2017, helping the club win the 2016 CAF Champions League title, before taking up a role as the assistant manager to Milutin Sredojević at Orlando Pirates.[5]
Managerial career
Orlando Pirates
In August 2019, after Sredojević unexpectedly resigned at Pirates, Mokwena was named as the new interim-manager of the club and he marked his managerial debut with a 1-0 MTN 8 defeat to Highlands Park.[6] Over the next five months, he took charge of 14 matches, winning four, drawing five and losing five, before returning to the assistant manager's role following the appointment of Josef Zinnbauer in December.[7]
Chippa United
On 4 March 2020, Mokwena left Zinnbauer's side after being appointed as the head coach of fellow Premier Division side Chippa United on a short-term deal.[8] However, his time with the club was disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak, which saw the league suspended later that month, and by the end of his contract in June he had overseen just one match in charge for the season.[9]
Mamelodi Sundowns
In 2020 Mokwena became co-coach of Mamelodi Sundowns alongside Manqoba Mngqithi. In October 2022, "Mngqithi was assigned to a new role as Sundowns' senior coach in what is a demotion from the position of co-coach. He will now be working under new head coach Rhulani Mokwena", Goal.com reported.[10] On the 3rd of July 2024 it was confirmed that he and Mamelodi Sundowns have parted ways, citing taking into account the objectives and expectations of the board[11]
Wydad AC
In July 2024 he joined Botola side Wydad AC as head coach.[12]
Career statistics
Manager
- As of match played 10 April 2024
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Orlando Pirates (interim) | 17 August 2019 | 10 December 2019[7] | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 28.6 |
| Chippa United (interim) | 4 March 2020 | 30 June 2020[9] | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 4 October 2020 | 4 July 2024[13] | 139 | 88 | 40 | 11 | 63.3 |
| Wydad AC | 10 July 2024 | present | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 41.7 |
| Total | 166 | 97 | 49 | 20 | 58.4 | ||
Honours
Manager
Mamelodi Sundowns
- South African Premier Division: 2021–22, 2022-23, 2023-24
- African Football League: 2023
References
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