Vilakazi Reveals Reasons for Early Retirement

Former Golden Arrows player and coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi revealed the circumstances surrounding his early retirement from professional football. On June 27, 2026, he was unveiled as the new head coach for Motsepe Foundation Championship team Highbury.

Known in football circles as 'Kanu', Vilakazi played for Abafana Bes’thende from 2006 until he retired in 2012 at the age of 30. He explained that his close relationships with the club's late founder, Rocky Madlala, and current chairlady, Mato Madlala, led coaches to suspect him of being a management spy who "badmouthed" them.

This atmosphere of mistrust greatly affected him, ultimately leading him to retire sooner than he might have liked. After stepping away from playing, Vilakazi took on the role of media officer for Arrows until their relegation to the second tier, after which he transitioned to an assistant coaching position.

In 2014, he made a brief return to playing due to an injury crisis within the team but quickly returned to the technical staff once strikers were signed in the subsequent transfer window.

During an interview with The Legacy Experience Podcast, Vilakazi reflected on his retirement, saying, "It was a premature retirement of course but the reason… I think it’s the first time I’m stating this reason as I’m talking to you. I decided to retire because I was very close to the late boss Rocky Madlala and to Mato Madlala. So, I thought like coaches felt like I was a spy.

“That didn’t sit well with me; they saw that I was close with them, they liked me and coaches thought I was badmouthing them. I woke up one day, I think the coach was Middendorp, and we were training at King Zwelithini Stadium, I told Mato. I didn’t know what was going to be the next step.

“But since I had a lump sum of money, I thought about a business I wanted to start and just leave football and return to Joburg. Mato expressed her desire for him to remain involved in the club's structures, despite her uncertainty about his future role.

As the team faced striker injuries under then-coach Shaun Bartlett, Vilakazi returned to the pitch for a short stint, but he returned to coaching promptly after the club acquired new players. Before relegation, he had already been serving as a media officer, which became unnecessary in the second tier, leading him to take up a second assistant role under Bartlett. In total, he played only six games before stepping back into his previous coaching role.