Mapemba ready to fly

is excited by his move to South Africa Premiership side Moroka Swallows this week.
Mapemba clinched a three-year deal with the Dube Birds on Tuesday after impressing coach Gordon Igesund during a two week trial period.
“I’m happy because it’s a great opportunity that many players in the domestic league are waiting for. I have worked hard for it and now I’ve come to the realisation that perseverance brings rewards,” he said.
The roving wingback, who began his top-flight career at now defunct Buymore before moving to CAPS United, has been a consistent performer in the domestic Premiership and his industry has earned him regular calls to the national team.
It appeared it was only a matter of time before he moved to a foreign league.
Mapemba had been on a trial stint at the Dube Birds in the past two weeks after initially leaving the country to try his luck at Platinum Stars.
The defender, however, caught the eye of Igesund during Swallows’ pre-season training in Johannesburg, which included a four-team tournament in which he was outstanding on the right side of defence.
Coincidentally, the deal came to fruition on his 26th birthday and Mapemba said it was one of the special moments in his life.
“This was a very big present from the Almighty. The coincidence was great and I never expected it would happen this way. Maybe God had planned it like that,” he said.
Mapemba is expected to return to South Africa this morning as he had briefly come back to sort out some outstanding paperwork.
His move makes him the eighth player from CAPS United to move to the South African Premiership in the last year and he said he would miss the Castle Lager Premiership.
Mapemba will join former CAPS United teammate Oscar Machapa, who is also in the Swallows books, after moving to the Dube Birds last season. Mapemba and Machapa grew up together in Mabvuku.
“Home is the best place to be but I have to move on with my career. I’ll miss the domestic football and everyone at CAPS United including the supporters.
“Hey, those people were so nice to me and they used to drive me to do well with their songs of encouragement. I owe them a big thank you,” he said.
He is now looking forward to joining his new family and has high hopes of making his mark in the Super Disk.
“Honestly, the people at Swallows were good to me. They made me feel at home and I never had any trouble during my trial period.
“I hope to have a great time with them and the first thing of course is to learn their style of play and hopefully I will be able to settle well.
“I will keep working hard to improve my game because this is just the beginning,” said Mapemba.
Swallows coach Igesund spoke highly of his new signing.
“He is a versatile football player who is a very talented overlapping fullback and his skills will assist the Dube Birds to play out from the back,” he said.