Khanye: Khune’s Chiefs Situation Is Painful

Former Kaizer Chiefs crowd-favourite Junior Khanye is disappointed in the Soweto giants’ honouring of veteran goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune for the way it was done, he says.  

Chiefs used their last home match of the 2023/24 season on Saturday against Polokwane City to honour Khune for his loyal service of 25 years to the club.

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In line with the celebrations, though, in front of a disappointing small home crowd at FNB Stadium, the 36-year-old shot-stopper was given a guard of honour by Chiefs and Polokwane players ahead of the match, while he was also handed two jersey plaques signed by his Amakhosi family members.

Having started from the bench, the Ventersdorp-born player who is fondly known as Mzansi’s finest, was introduced in the 76^th minute for Bruce Bvuma for his fifth league appearance of the season and managed to keep a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw.

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Despite all of this, Khanye believes that occasion of honouring a player of Khune’s calibre could have been better.

“Itumeleng Khune’s situation is painful, and it hurts me, and I can imagine what it is doing to him if it does this to me. The guy didn’t deserve to be honoured in the way it was done over the weekend. He deserved more. This is the guy who sacrificed so much for the club over the years, having come through their development and he deserved a lot more than what I saw being done on Saturday,” said Khanye, speaking exclusively to the Siya crew.

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“Khune is a Kaizer Chiefs man through and through and therefore the honouring of him should have been much better than what was done. This is the guy who won trophies for the club and did very well with the different generations of players he played with over the years. He remains one of the best talents ever produced from Chiefs’ development in the club’s history. He is a Kaizer Chiefs legend,” Khanye said.      

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