Bay Chair Refutes Mhlongo’s Clearance Legitimacy To AmaZulu  

Richards Bay chairman Sifiso Biyela says he will not pursue legal action to stop Langelihle Mhlongo from joining AmaZulu, even though the club maintains the player was still under contract.

Biyela explained that he has no intention of fighting a player who no longer wants to remain at the club, adding that filing to reclaim the money that he paid the player last season on new contract terms would be a waste of time and energy.

Mhlongo was unveiled by AmaZulu on Monday after a long and drawn-out legal dispute that went through the PSL, with the ruling going in favour of the player.

The KwaMashu-born midfielder insists he never signed a new contract with Richards Bay. However, the club maintains that he did sign an extension ahead of last season, and that the terms were clearly reflected in his contract.

According to Biyela, Mhlongo signed an extension at the start of last season, which included a salary adjustment to reflect the new agreement. He says he was surprised when the player later claimed he had not signed a new deal.

As the dispute escalated, Mhlongo reportedly stayed away from the club’s pre-season from July until November, insisting he would not return to training.

“There is no player who gets a salary increase for a full year and then claims he doesn’t know anything about the contract,” Biyela told Sportswire.

“If I was petty, I would have sued him and demanded the money back. But I’m not petty—I understand what they are doing. The question is: why should we fight for someone who doesn’t want to be with us?

“We could take this matter further, and it could drag on for another year, but we don’t want to be seen as a club that destroys players’ careers.

“That’s why I’m saying some things are simply not worth your time and energy.”

Biyela also expressed surprise at how the player managed to fund legal representation, suggesting AmaZulu may have played a role—something he believes could sour the relationship between the two KwaZulu-Natal clubs.

“The reality is that teams in KZN sometimes clash because we don’t respect one another,” said Biyela.

“People undermine others, and I’ve been in football long enough to know that some things are not worth my energy.

“We could pay R30,000 now to appeal and nullify the contract [with AmaZulu]—but is it worth it? And choosing not to appeal is not an admission of guilt.

“We don’t want to be involved in this any further. People can believe what they want, but the truth is that Langa still had a contract with us. He signed it. I even drove him to Durban in my own car the day he signed that new contract.

“As for other issues, I don’t want to get involved.”

The 24-year-old midfielder—who can operate as both a No. 8 and a No. 10—made 65 appearances for the Natal Rich Boyz, scoring once.

Asked whether the player continued to receive his salary while away from the club, Biyela was direct.

“We didn’t pay him because he didn’t come to work,” he said.

“If Langa claims he didn’t sign a new contract, the fact is he played last season under a new and improved deal. So if he didn’t have a contract, where was the increased salary coming from?

“That increase that went into his bank account every month was aligned with his new contract.

“Anyway, he doesn’t have a place at the club right now. If you didn’t know, I filed the dispute when I heard he was going for medicals at AmaZulu. Him signing for AmaZulu is not new—he had already signed for them.

“I showed AmaZulu the contract Langa had with Richards Bay because I told them, ‘I’m informed that you have my player in training.’”