Moroka Swallows have fired their DStv Diski Challenge coach Matsemela Thoka with immediate effect.
This comes after the junior side were hammered 6-2 this past weekend by Sekhukhune United away.
That has left the Soweto giants, who have been embroiled in controversies for all sorts of wrong reasons, lying third from bottom with just nine points after 16 matches.
This past weekend’s loss was the club’s seventh loss on the bounce, having won just two matches against Cape Town Spurs and bottom side Polokwane City, respectively.
That proved to be the last game for Thoka, who will forever be remembered for steering Baroka into the semi-finals of the Telkom Knockout by beating Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarters in the absence of coach Wedson Nyirenda, who had gone back home in Zambia for compassionate leave.
Baroka, who took out Bidvest Wits in the semis, went on to beat Orlando Pirates in the final on penalties, to win the club’s only major silverware.
Thoka’s departure at Swallows doesn’t come as a major surprise as the scant Dube Birds have been in the media for the wrong reasons. The senior team failed to honour two matches in December as players were on strike, making demands, such as being paid their salaries before Christmas.
That led to the club initially letting go of 22 players, but they have renegotiated deals with players such as Gabadinho Mhango, Daniel Akpeyi, Tlakusani Mthethwa, and many others.
The players, as they were not paid, refused to play the two matches against Sundowns and Golden Arrows, respectively. The PSL then fined Swallows R1 million, but they were asked to pay R400,000 and R600,000 was suspended for 24 months on condition that they don’t commit the same offence.
Head coach of the senior team Steve Komphela is rumored to have not returned to training to prepare for the resumption of the DStv Premiership next week because of the squabble within the club and Musa Nyatama has been the one in charge of the team along with Ditheko Mototo.