Zimbabwe clubs go shopping in Eswatini

Noel Munzabwa in Horo, Eswatini

IN a year, Eswatini’s cultural contemporary fusion star Mkhuleko Mangwe, better known as Salukazana, is singing about breaking borders, the kingdom’s football has quietly followed the script, and Zimbabwe is the new destination.

Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions Scottland FC and newly promoted Hardrock FC have moved in on Eswatini talent, sealing deals for Khethokwakhe Thwala and Sambulo “Masoso” Simelane, two names now set to test themselves in Zimbabwe’s top flight.

It is a shift that has been coming for years, but never quite landed. Eswatini has long supplied South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola and Tanzania with players, while Zimbabwe mostly watched from the outside, even as the traffic of coaches and football workers flowed the other way.

Zimbabwean football has been one of Eswatini’s biggest exporters in living memory, sending across hundreds of players and a long list of coaches, administrators and support staff, but the reverse route never properly opened. Now, Scottland and Hardrock have done what others failed to do, and they’ve done it in the same window.

The irony is that Zimbabwe’s previous “imports” from Eswatini were not players, they were boardroom targets and technical minds that slipped away. More than 15 years ago, the Premier Soccer League failed to reach terms with current Eswatini Football Association chief executive officer Frederick Mngometulu, a respected football operator, and the post went to Kenny Ndebele instead.

Later, Collin Nyambiya tried to bring Justice Figuereito to Highlanders, but the Bulawayo giants could not close the deal, and the youngster went on to build a career that included spells at Maritzburg United and Richards Bay before settling at Chippa United.

Even Zifa once aimed high with former Mamelodi Sundowns CEO Kenneth Makhanya, but the price tag was too steep for Felton Kamambo’s administration, and the job landed at Joseph Mamutse, another big decision that shaped the years that followed.

Now it’s the players doing the travelling, and the timing matters. Scottland are champions and under pressure to defend a title with the whole league hunting them. Hardrock are new in the Premiership and need legs, goals and personality quickly, not in two seasons’ time. Their answer has been to look across the border.

Thwala arrives with medals and a story that carries weight in Eswatini football. The versatile left back, who can also play as a wing back or defensive midfielder, is nicknamed “Stopper” and comes from a national team bloodline. His father, Mxolisi “Stopper” Mtsetfwa, captained Sihlangu for more than six years and built a trophy-laden career with Manzini Wanderers and Royal Leopard.

Thwala has carried his mother’s surname since birth and came through the Young Buffaloes development system, stepping into the senior team as a teenager in the 2020/21 season and quickly looking like a player built for bigger stages.

His next move took him to Mbabane Swallows, where he won the MTN Premier League title in 2023/24 and strengthened his standing in the national set up, even captaining Sihlangu on several occasions, a mark of trust in a squad that doesn’t hand the armband to tourists.

But Swallows’ financial struggles triggered an exodus and Thwala moved again, this time to Nsingizini Hotspurs, and he didn’t just survive the switch, he collected another league title in 2024/25, making it back-to-back championships. He added the MoMo Cup and stacked up Player of the Month awards, the kind of form that makes clubs in the region start calling.

Before Scottland closed the deal, Thwala had interest from Costa do Sol and Durban City, a signal that Zimbabwe’s champions have beaten serious competition for his signature, and that they believe he can hold his own in the PSL’s weekly grind.

He also arrives as part of a rising Eswatini generation that is starting to believe it belongs beyond local borders. Names like Neliswa “Tiger” Dlamini, Thubelihle Mavuso, Joseph Kibonge and Innocent Makhehleni Dlamini are already being spoken about as the core of what comes next for Sihlangu, and Thwala has been right in the middle of that conversation.

Hardrock’s capture of Sambulo “Masoso” Simelane is a different kind of statement. He is a forward, still in his early twenties, and he comes with the hunger of a player who has always had to prove himself twice, first in school football, then again in the senior game.

Simelane’s rise started in the Eswatini Schools Sport Association ball games, where he starred for Evelyn Baring High and helped the school reach the Instacash football finals three years ago, a run that put him on the map while he was already playing for National First Division side Young Movers.

He is not just a footballer. Simelane competed in professional athletics events under Athletics Eswatini, specialising in the 400m, and that speed shows in his game, the kind of pace that turns one half chance into panic for defenders.

After joining Nsingizini Hotspurs following their promotion to the Premier League, Simelane didn’t take long to announce himself, finishing as top scorer in their 2024/25 title winning campaign, a ruthless return that explains why a newly promoted Zimbabwean club would go shopping outside its borders.

He has already represented Eswatini at U20, U23 and senior level, and his profile fits what Hardrock need. He can play across the front three, as a right sided attacker or central striker, and he runs like he’s chasing something personal.