Zimbabwe Star Claims Death Threats in South Africa After His Horrific Tackle on Orlando Pirates Midfielder

Zimbabwe striker Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya has claimed that he is receiving death threats after his horror tackle on an Orlando Pirates midfielder during a Premier Soccer League match on Wednesday.

Ngwenya escaped a red card when he stumped the ankle of Pirates midfielder Sihle Nduli when Pirates faced his team AmaZulu FC in a match that ended 1-1.

It was a horrific tackle that would have easily broken the leg of Nduli, who was stretchered off the pitch. To make it worse, Nduli was just returning to action after a long injury layoff following a knee ligament setback early last season.

With his latest setback, Nduli faces the prospect of another extended spell on the sidelines when he had hoped that the worst was behind him.

“Ngwenya has been receiving death threats on social media after the incident. But he had no intentions against Nduli,” Zimbabwean outlet Herald quoted a source.

Ngwenya has since apologised for the tackle, penning an Instagram message to Nduli, saying: “I’m sorry my brother for what happened. I did not do it intentionally. [I] hope you got space in your heart to forgive me. Speedy recovery.”

AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane also weighed in on the tackle, expressing his sorry to Nduli for sustaining another bad injury just when he was returning from a long lay-off.

“Nduli, man, I don’t like seeing a player coming back from a long-term injury only to get injured again,” said Zwane.

“He is such a talent, and it is unfortunate to see him injured again. Our player could have done much better in that situation. I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Pirates are yet to give a medical update over the extent of Nduli’s injury but their coach Abdeslam Ouaddou fears that he could be out for long again.

“We hope it’s not so bad. Now we are going to do some analysis, to go deep into the analysis. Actually, I cannot give you more updates about that. We just have to make some examinations, and we will see. I hope that we didn’t lose him again,” Ouaddou stated.