Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE story of Warriors and AmaZulu forward Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya is that of a man whose scoring boots don’t wear out.
From the red dust of Mberengwa to the floodlights of Durban, the script has been the same — wherever he lands, the net shakes.
At FC Platinum, he left last year mid-season when he was top goalscorer with nine goals and still finished the campaign as the club’s top scorer.
Arriving at AmaZulu during the mid-season transfer window, he scored six league goals for the South African side, eight in all competitions, before he picked up an injury, but once again he finished the season as their top scorer.
This season he has already scored 10 goals in his eight opening appearances to show South Africa and beyond that the boy from Zvishavane was just born to score.
But before the Player of the Month awards and the Warriors call-ups, or all the scramble from Scottland, Chippa United and AmaZulu for his signature, there was just a kid at Masase Primary School in Mberengwa who surprised everyone and even himself.
“I used to play football just for the sake of it in school, then in 2015 and 2016, I was crowned Player of the Year. I was surprised, but that is when I realised that I have this in me,” Ngwenya says.
That surprise became a prophecy and since then, his football journey seems to follow a script.
After his stint at Mnene High School for Form One and Two, a scholarship under FC Platinum took him to Guinea Fowl High School.
“I did Form Three to Five there, then in 2019, I moved to Zvishavane for my Upper Six as I was now supposed to go and play for FC Platinum Under-19,” he recalls.
However, before he could even play competitively with the platinum miners’ juniors, Covid-19 struck and football, like any other sport, went into a long break.
Athletes could only wait for the indefinite break to finally end, while others even dropped out during that time.
While Ngwenya waited for the Under-19 season to resume, slowly, the Covid-19-induced bans were lifted and FC Platinum’s seniors had to start preparations for the CAF Champions League and the Chibuku Super Cup in 2021.
However, Norman Mapeza’s FC Platinum was not in the best shape.
That is when he knocked on Ngwenya’s door and asked the unknown teenager to report for the senior team’s training the following day.
Unbeknown to a sceptical Ngwenya, the knock was to transform his life.
After that first day’s training, an impressed Mapeza asked Ngwenya to report for training again the next day.
“I went back and that day we played an 11 versus 11 game. I was up against renowned defender Gift Bello and I was all over him that day; that’s how I was signed,” he recalls.
Precisely, the renowned Bello became Ngwenya’s blessing.
However, the youngster in Ngwenya still doubted his abilities and for some time thought Mapeza had signed him perhaps to ship him out on loan so that he could get exposure.
Instead, the celebrated coach handed him a debut.
“FC Platinum played against Whawha and I was on the bench. We were leading 5-0; that’s when he introduced me and I scored. That is how I earned a spot in the starting line-up and never looked back,” adds Ngwenya.
And indeed he never did.
Even in a dressing room full of renowned players like Rodwell Chinyengetere, Silas Songani, Ralph Kawondera, Stanley Ngala and Eli Ilunga, the young Ngwenya still commanded a shirt.
By 2022, the forward had established himself in the top-flight, contributing 10 goals, nine assists and a league title with FC Platinum.
Then came the gut punch.
Early in 2024, a shoulder injury forced him to the sidelines.
Ngwenya still finds it difficult to talk about the gruelling recovery process, which was punctuated by pain, doubt and emotional breakdowns.
“I went through a lot at that team, especially in 2024, but coach Mapeza stood by me; he made me view and appreciate life differently,” he says.
The 23-year-old striker fought back, and the reward was bigger than just a comeback.
In 2025, he scored nine goals in the first half of the season in a surprising consistency that attracted a lot of attention.
Current Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions Scottland wanted him, so did Chippa United, but Ngwenya opted for AmaZulu.
“The offer came when I was fighting for the domestic Golden Boot. I was scoring for fun in every game, though my highlight was when I scored in six games in a row,” he said.
However, leaving a place he called home for long hurt.
“I literally grew up at FC Platinum and on my last game, when I heard fans calling my name, bidding farewell, that’s when it really hit that I was leaving and it hurt, but there was no more turning back,” he recalls.
The move tested him again.
Weeks after landing in Durban last year and scoring six goals, injury struck.
Yet he still completed the season as AmaZulu’s top scorer.
Watching from the sidelines on crutches while his team fought on the pitch was agonising.
Looking back, he feels the 2024 injury at FC Platinum was God’s way of preparing him for what was coming.
“Now, when I reflect on 2024, I believe God was preparing me mentally for what was to come because soon after, a Warriors call came and, at this stage, it demands a lot of mental strength,” he said.
“Then picking up an injury in a foreign land just weeks after arrival was the most difficult time, but I realised that mentally I was strong and I picked myself up.”
Winning AmaZulu’s Mitsubishi Player of the Quarter earlier last week, Ngwenya is currently the team’s leading scorer so far this season with 10 goals already to his name.
And another Warriors ticket is looming.
Ngwenya is expected to be part of the squad to face Equatorial Guinea in the 2027 TotalEnergies AFCON Group E qualifiers in Cameroon on November 12, with the reverse fixture scheduled for four days later at the National Sports Stadium.
Yet, when you listen to him, you realise he thinks this is just the beginning.
“I’m still adapting because the league demands a lot, and you always have to push yourself harder in training. I don’t feel I am quite at my optimal pace yet; I am just staying focused on the immediate task, taking each match as it comes,” he says
“Just as things happened in 2024, just after recovery, something big came and even after last year’s injury came the latest one, and it makes me want more.”
The boy who once surprised himself in Mberengwa is now making a whole continent and beyond take notice.
Simply, Ngwenya could have been born just to score!
