Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela has hailed Shakes Mashaba for rewarding Mpho Makola's form with Bafana Bafana call-ups.
Khompela gave the current Orlando Pirates midfielder his professional debut when they were together at Free State Stars in 2009.
Makola made his Bafana bow in the Nelson Mandela Challenge against Senegal last month, scoring the only goal of the game with a stunning curled effort, and has been rewarded for his form with another call-up for friendlies against Honduras and Costa Rica next week.
And Komphela insists he always knew Makola had the quality to make it and believes the midfielder's national call-up was long overdue.
"Trust me I know natural talent when I see one and Mpho has always had it him," he exclusively told Football411. "He is highly gifted and has unbelievable ability.
"You see talent when you've worked with it and that is from my experience having worked a lot with the national team and I always knew he fitted the bill.
"He has worked really hard over the years to get to where he is and he's doing well for his club.
"So I'm really delighted that he's finally got it because he fully deserves it."