“Former Mamelodi Sundown assistant coach, Rulani Mokwena, is expected to re-join the Chloorkop side in the same capacity, having parted ways with the club back in 2017 to join arch rivals Orlando Pirates,” read a Sundowns statement.
“Mokwena will travel to Rustenburg to join the Brazilians in camp as soon as he has received the results for his COVID-19 test. If everything goes according to plan, he will join the team by the end of this week. The experienced Mokwena spent more than 3 years with Sundowns before embarking on a journey to coach some of the most competitive sides in the PSL. He also took the time to capacitate himself by travelling to Europe to study at the current EPL Champions, Liverpool.
“The President of Mamelodi Sundowns, Dr. Patrice Motsepe welcomed Mokwena back home to the Mamelodi Sundowns family as the Club looks to reinforce the Technical team as they continue to aspire to dominate in the CAF Champions League to earn the 2nd star for the Club and beyond. Mokwena will add a new dimension to our already accomplished technical team and will make a valuable contribution to Sundowns.”
Mokwena was with Sundowns between 2014 and 2017, helping them to win the 2015 Nedbank Cup, the 2015/16 Absa Premiership title and the 2016 Caf Champions League.
He left in 2017 to join Orlando Pirates, the club his family had such strong ties to, as an assistant coach to Milutin Sredojevic. Despite some excellent displays under Sredojevic, with the Buccaneers championship contenders in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, Pirates failed to win a trophy under Sredojevic, and were sent into chaos when he suddenly upped and left at the start of the 2019/20 campaign.