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Johannesburg - New Mpumalanga Black Aces coach Paul Dolezar, pulled of another major coup on Thursday when he announced the signing of former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates midfield dynamo Benedict “Tso” Vilakazi, from PSL leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
French speaking Dolezar who joined the struggling Witbank outfit on January 1, has hit the ground running since he arrived. Vilakazi is his third major signing.
On Wednesday the former Kaizer Chiefs and Downs coach Dolezar signed midfielder David Mathebula and defender Thabang Rooi from Amakhosi.
Said Dolezar: “I have been after Vilakazi and Mathebula for years. I admired them both when I was coach of Sundowns and delighted to have signed them. Both will make their debuts when we play Maritzburg United on Friday night.
"I will also be playing Rooi who will strengthen my defence against Maritzburg.”
Aces, who are second bottom of the Absa Premiership with five points from 12 matches, are five points behind Maritzburg who are in third bottom position and also in danger of being relegated.
“Vilakazi and Mathebula will make all the difference in midfield. When I watched Aces' previous matches before I joined them, I realised I needed some real quality in the midfield.
"Mathebula and Vilakazi give me that and more. Both have bags of skill and quality plus loads of experience,” enthused Dolezar.
Vilakazi is a former Pirates captain who left Bucs in 2007 to join Aalborg BK in Denmark, but only played in a handful of matches for them, before returning to join Downs in 2008.
At 28 Dolezar believes the best is yet to come form the magical Vilakazi who has failed to claim a regular place at big spending Downs since his return from Denmark.
Vilakazi is also a former SA under-23 skipper, played 31 times for Bafana and almost 200 matches for Bucs.
“Vilakazi is sheer magic, as is Mathebula. I am not worried by the fact neither has played regularly this season.
"There presence alone in the team will lift the other players who now know how serious I am about building the side and getting Aces out of trouble.”
Dolezar who also coached Bloemfontein Celtic in a 13-year relationship with South Africa, said on Thursday he had more new signings in the pipeline.
“I am hoping to tie up another deal before Friday.”
