The Real Reason Lepasa Vanished At Siwelele
Siwelele coach Lehlohonolo Seema has attributed striker Zakhele Lepasa’s zero-start season to poor match fitness and high-intensity tactical adjustments, while outlining plans to recruit up to three new forwards for the 2026/27 campaign.
The 29-year-old forward joined Siwelele at the start of the season on a free transfer following his departure from Orlando Pirates, where he helped the Buccaneers win six trophies, including four MTN8 titles and two Nedbank Cup crowns.
However, since arriving at Siwelele, Lepasa has made just two appearances all season and is yet to start a match. The former Pirates striker last featured in April, when he played only nine minutes in what was also his second appearance of the campaign.
Speaking ahead of Siwelele’s final game of the season against Sekhukhune United at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, Seema admitted that Lepasa’s lack of match fitness and the difficult circumstances at the club contributed to his limited opportunities.
“This season overall, Zakhele has been working hard, and I’m sure we’ll still have a chance to look at him,” said Seema.
“He’s pushing himself, but he hasn’t played for a long time, and he’s one player who is mentally very strong. But like I said before, I had to change a lot of things in our training sessions, and some of those changes proved difficult for certain players. I also needed to make sure I looked after the players’ welfare.
“I think he played in two games, and he continues to fight for his place. I cannot make an overall judgment on Lepasa because he hasn’t had a fair run of games.
“So, we’re still looking forward to seeing more from him. A lot of players here were simply unlucky because they did not have a proper pre-season. Some did not have clubs, while others were not getting game time at their previous teams.
“They came into a side where every match felt like a cup final from day one because people already believed we were relegation-bound.
“Physically, if you are not at the required level in our training sessions, you will struggle on certain days. I cannot fully comment on Lepasa because that would be unfair, but he is a good player and I can see he is working hard.
“We are pushing, and we’ll see what happens. The game against Sekhukhune is the last one of the season, and then we will begin preparing for next season. Everyone will go through pre-season, and one thing I believe is that we will compete much better than we did this season.”
The former Sekhukhune United mentor also shifted focus to next season and revealed that the club is targeting attacking reinforcements, although he insisted there would not be major changes to the squad.
“I don’t think there will be many changes in the team next season,” Seema added.
“The only players we want to add are strikers who can give Siphesihle Jeza a break because we cannot rely only on this young man. He is still very young and still trying to establish himself.
“So, we really need to go out and look for maybe two or even three strikers. But you won’t see many changes because we are blessed.”
He continued: “We’ve got a lot of DDC players who have been promoted, and some have not even played yet because they never got their chance.
“Definitely, most of the players who did not feature this season will still be part of the squad next season, but there won’t be major changes.”
With the season coming to an end, Lepasa will be hoping to feature once again when Siwelele take on Sekhukhune in their final match of the campaign.
