‘Mental fitness wasn’t matching physical fitness’ – Agent gets candid on Saleng’s Pirates’ woes

Monnapule Saleng’s agent Karabo Mathang-Tshabuse has opened up over what was bothering her client at Orlando Pirates, leading to his absence from the team.

Saleng was out of the squad for most of last season with his last appearance in the league being in November 2024, before playing a CAF Champions League game in December against Al Ahly, and he was never been seen in the Bucs colours again.

Pirates have never responded over what led to the winger’s lengthy spell out but the club sent him out to Orbit College on a season-long loan for the 2025-26 campaign.

Speaking to Mazola Molefe on Behind the Boot, Mathang-Tshabuse said Saleng’s problem was not about money as widely reported but that the player was not in the right frame of mind.

“We see Monnapule Saleng saying ‘I’m not ok’ on that GIANTS show. That is already an answer in itself,” she said.

Agent reveals Saleng’s mental struggles

“It was a season where mental fitness was not matching physical fitness. So, what do I need to do? I need to look after my client.

“It’s not my role to go to the media and give explanations why he’s not on the pitch. What I like is from the GIANTS show, Saleng is live in saying ‘I am not okay’ – granted people are only getting it after the fact, after the speculation where he is, does he really want to be there.

“And I’m only speaking about it now because the employer [Pirates] has commissioned this to show that he was not okay. So, doesn’t it call for a deeper pause from us? To say ‘When we don’t understand, maybe we don’t have to kill the guy on social media and attack him’.

“The situation was multilayered – we are expected as players to be in top physical condition, but we go through things, we go through a loss, we go through grief, we’re human – it’s not my place to say what he went into.

“[But] I can now say because he said on that show he’s not okay, that yes, it was a season where different kind of support was required for the player. And I think it just snowballed into more things.”

Why did winger’s representatives keep quiet?

KARABO MATHANG TSHABUSE

Orlando Pirates was never at fault on the Monnapule Saleng issue

They gave him a fat contract. He signed and he was happy with it

There was never a contractual issue

It's the media to blame [PdT] for what happened. Twitter was too brutal as well

He… pic.twitter.com/n4AX9wIF4L

— Constitution First 🇿🇦 (@Constitution_94) September 23, 2025

Mathang-Tshabuse says she opted to keep quiet over the issue following social media claims that Saleng was out after a fallout with Pirates for demanding a pay rise on his ‘DDC salary.’

“There was a storm brewing within him that he needed space to recover. And he needed the audience to just hold the line for him,” she continued.

“Unfortunately, as much as social media can be powerful to build, it can be powerful to exacerbate a situation… So we find ourselves now having to explain a season where people were just ruthless.

“I then decided [for myself] I can’t comment because I can’t say my client needs the mental fitness to be where his physical fitness is. We decided rather to say this is an employer-employee issue – that’s the one statement I took out.

“My priority in that season was to look after the well-being of my client and to make sure that whatever distress he is in is not getting deeper,” she further said.

Saleng brokered ‘very good deal’ at Pirates

Mathang-Tshabuse confirmed Saleng was on a good salary at Pirates and there was never a moment when his pay was an issue.

“There was no contractual issue between Orlando Pirates and Saleng – Orlando Pirates and Saleng brokered a very good deal,” she said.

“A deal that really helps Saleng to do a multitude of things, including buying property. Orlando Pirates can never be faulted on that score. It can also not be faulted on what the player went through.

“There was a time where the club said ‘go, recover from whatever you need to recover’ and there was a time where the club said ‘come back’ and his request was ‘I need more time’.

Saleng has made six appearances for Orbit College so far this season but he is yet to score.