Afcon: Meet the Bafana doctor on call

Not many teams have a clean bill of health in a long tournament, but Bafana team doctor Thulani Ngwenya and his crew attained this rare feat at the Afcon. Daniel Mothowagae caught up with the medico in Cairo.

An injury-free camp

Apart from midfielder Dean Furman, who sat out two games at Afcon during the group stage, Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter has had all 23 players available on the eve of every match until their elimination on Wednesday.

“I wouldn’t say it has been the easiest camp, but experience has taught us to prevent injuries from happening. In medicine, they say prevention is better than cure,” said team medic Dr Thulani Ngwenya.

“We’ve got a physical trainer, a physiotherapist and a masseur, hence we have had a clean bill of health. We work in synchrony.”

Ngwenya says that the monitoring of the players’ workload is key during a tournament like Afcon.

“That’s where the physical trainer comes in,” elaborated the 35-year-old.

“After training, you also need to do good recovery modalities.”

Ngwenya, who has a striking resemblance to Bafana midfielder Thulani Serero, says sleep and rest were essential for the players in this regard.

“We also do ice baths, which help with recovery.”

A balanced diet and rehydration are also key to keeping the players in a healthy state, Ngwenya pointed out.

“The duration between training sessions and the meals mustn’t be too long so that they are able to replenish [their bodies] quickly.”

He also advised the hotel chef to cook “accordingly”.

Who is Thulani Ngwenya?

Growing up in KaNyamazane township in Mpumalanga, Ngwenya came through the amateur football ranks as a player and later attracted interest from the Orlando Pirates development team scouts.

READY TO FIX IT Thulani Ngwenya

He prioritised his studies over football to pursue his dream in medicine.

The married father of one holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and graduated with a master’s degree in sports medicine from the University of Pretoria.

He runs a sports clinic practice called Sports Medicine Africa Clinic, which he co-established with four other physicians – Dr Jerome Mampane, who works with the Chiefs, Lions and the Springboks; Dr Crosley Mulungwa, Team SA chief medical officer at the World Student Games that are under way in Italy; and Dr Mushi Makhethi, who works with the Boks junior women’s team.

Involvement with national teams

Constant unavailability of doctors in the junior national teams opened the door for Ngwenya. His first involvement dates back to 2012 with Basetsana, the South African women’s Under-17 team, after he was recommended by the national Under-20 men’s team doctor Desmond Lamola.

At the time, Ngwenya had just completed his internship doing community service.

“It was my first time, but, because of my passion for football, it was easy to adapt,” he recalled, while crediting Banyana Banyana’s long-serving physiotherapist Fikile Phasha for welcoming him.

But it wasn’t until he came across Shakes Mashaba – who at the time was the national Under-20 coach – that he landed a job with the senior national men’s team.

The two had worked together at Amajita prior to Mashaba’s appointment as Bafana head coach in 2014.

“Immediately after his appointment, coach Shakes told us he was taking the whole Under-20 staff – support and medical – and that’s how I broke through to Bafana.”

However, his elevation to the senior team was met with disdain as his experience was questioned. He was 27 years old at the time and was yet to get his master’s degree.

The first backlash was when he ruled out goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune from Bafana’s 2015 Afcon qualifier against Sudan, a decision that also irked Kaizer Chiefs, who dismissed Ngwenya’s diagnosis.

“Khune reported for camp carrying an injury that extended from the heel to the shin and swelled up each time at training. It was a big issue because Chiefs turned back and said Khune had been playing and they managed the injury. I was firm on my decision and even coach Shakes supported me.”

Despite all the tension, said Ngwenya, Chiefs reluctantly confirmed the diagnosis, which saved Khune from aggravating the injury.

“I felt this was God working in mysterious ways because it was negative publicity, but it was publicity – people wanted to know who this doctor Thulani Ngwenya was. That gave me a breakthrough because Safa also wanted to know more about me.”

Landing the chief medical officer job

Ngwenya proved his capabilities to Safa when he attended to federation president Danny Jordaan, who fell ill during camp for Bafana’s Nelson Mandela Challenge game against Ivory Coast in Mbombela in 2015.

“I didn’t do anything miraculous, but it was as if he was never sick the next day.”

This worked like a charm for Ngwenya, who was summoned to a meeting by Safa to introduce himself and present his plan.

“I explained the plan and that I was registered and doing my master’s [degree]. They said: ‘We are appointing you as a chief medical officer of Safa.’ It was a big break.”

Ngwenya worked full time for three years, but he felt this limited him from growing and expanding in the medical field. He has since changed to half-day weekly shifts at Safa House in Nasrec.

“I became more of an administrator because I had to appoint team doctors, and liaise with clubs locally and abroad. I’ve got a bigger vision with sports medicine because this speciality is not really recognised in the country.”