THOHOYANDOU – The former Bafana Bafana and the National U/23 coach, Mr Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba is the new head coach of Black Leopards. His appointment into the challenging post came into effect on Monday. Mashaba replaces the Austrian born, Mr Walter Rautmann, who was dismissed from the club towards the end of last year.

Following the team's bad performances during the past months, the Managing Director of Black Leopards, Mr David Thidiela, has finally succumbed to the supporters' demand that they needed a head coach for their favourite team.

Rautmann was fired after he was found guilty by the club's disciplinary committee of bringing the club into disrepute. He joined Zulu Royals after his departure from Leopards. He had been at Royals for two months, before they replaced him with the former national team coach, Mr Clive Barker.

Mashaba joins Black Leopards after parting ways with his former employer, The South African Football Association (Safa) early last month. According to the Leopards' Public Relations Officer, Mr Tshifhiwa Thidiela, the club has entered into a two-year contract with Mashaba. Thidiela stated that they were aware of the fact that the supporters were worried about the team's poor performance.

He said that their reason to take longer in appointing a new coach was that they wanted to get the right person for the job rather than appointing a person for the sake of pleasing the supporters, who in the end will not deliver the goods. Thidiela further revealed that Mashaba will not be on the technical bench in their match against Zulu Royals tomorrow, instead he will be assessing the team from the grandstand.

In a telephone interview with Mirror on Wednesday evening, Mashaba stated that he was happy with the agreement that he has entered into with Black Leopards.