Interview: 'Joker' Nkota on RSL move, mentor Gini & South Africa World Cup dream

Interview: 'Joker' Nkota on RSL move, mentor Gini & South Africa World Cup dream

Mohau Nkota is a self-described "joker". But, on the pitch with Al Ettifaq, he’s all business.

The South Africa international, rated as one of the brightest talents on his continent and a future star for Bafana Bafana, has made an impressive first impression in his debut season in the Roshn Saudi League after signing last summer from Orlando Pirates.

Perhaps the reason for his ability to make an instant impact is the way he has immersed himself in the Dammam dressing room.

Mohau Nkota's smile has become a staple in the RSL with Al Ettifaq

“A lot of the Saudi guys, I'm close to them… they like my vibe,” Nkota says in a sit-down interview with the Saudi Pro League.

“They like how I am; I love to joke around and be with people. That's how I am. I got close to the guys very easily because of who I am. And I show them what kind of a guy I am. I can joke around.”

Choosing the RSL

While football remains fun, and despite the almost-permanent smile, when Nkota crosses the white line, he’s firmly focused on the task at hand.

To this point in the 2025-26 RSL, he has scored two goals and recorded two assists through 18 appearances, including a fabulous effort upon Al Ettifaq debut last August, against Al Kholood.

That brilliant bow simply underlined how Nkota has taken a place in that growing band of fast-rising footballing starlets making their mark on the RSL.

While some were surprised last July with his decision to leave Orlando Pirates, a giant in South Africa and across the continent, for Nkota at least, it constituted a more straightforward decision.

“As Africans, not all of us want to stay in Africa and play in Africa,” he explains. “Most of us want to play overseas. For most of us, that's our wish, to move at an early age, to get to experience leagues in the other countries.

“I was in the national team camp, and I was called by my agent [saying] there's a club that I'm going to move to in Saudi. And then I got a call from the [Orlando Pirates] chairman saying it's up to me whether I want to go or not. But I was happy about moving here.

“As Africans, we want to move; we want to explore; we want to experience countries and play in those leagues. So that's what I did. I wanted to move; I wanted to go to other countries and play football.”

That said, leaving behind his boyhood team, not to mention his home country, was still testing.

At Al Ettifaq, Mohau Nkota forms part of an attack featuring Moussa Dembele

"It wasn’t easy," Nkota concedes. "It was emotional, leaving the club where you grow up. They taught me a lot of things. My last week, it wasn’t easy to go in and say goodbyes to the guys.

“It was very emotional for me, so I found the last day hard, that I will never see them again. To the Orlando Pirates fans, thank you. I wanted to leave; I wanted to play football. I want to go as far as I can."

Wijnaldum the mentor

His immediate next stop was the RSL. Thrust into his first professional experience outside South Africa, Nkota had to adjust to a new style of football, a new environment and culture.

Thus, he leant on new teammates to smooth the transition. Chief among those was Georginio "Gini" Wijnaldum, Al Ettifaq's captain fantastic who has seen, and done, almost it all in club football through experiences at the likes of Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain.

Mohau Nkota credits Georginio Wijnaldum for helping smooth his transition at Al Ettifaq

“When I arrived, I talked to my captain, Gini Wijnaldum,” Nkota says. “He's the one who advised me about the league and told me how things are going to go during the season.

“He said to me, ‘It's not going to be easy, so you have to work and fight for your position. You have to always be there. Show up, show the coach that you want to play’. He told me a lot of things, that I need to show myself, who I am, where I come from, so that people can recognise me in the league.

“I didn't know he was the captain until I asked and told me, ‘I'm the captain here, but don't worry, be free. Don't be scared to make mistakes. I'm here. We are here to help you as our new teammate. We are here to help you impress and show us what you bring to the team'.”

Taking on the best

Establishing himself in the RSL, Nkota is embracing the opportunity to, not only learn from celebrated colleagues - former Fulham, Celtic and Olympique Lyon striker Moussa Dembele is another he shares the dressing room with - but when playing against elite-level defenders.

For instance, the competition includes the likes of African champion Kalidou Koulibaly at title-chasing Al Hilal, Real Madrid great Nacho, now captain of East Coast rivals Al Qadsiah, and former Barcelona and Spain defender Inigo Martinez.

"Coming to play against the best centre-backs in the league, they're very experienced," Nkota says. "They know how to read the games and they're very good. So, it's not easy to get pass them.

"I've learned a lot from them, playing against tough opponents who are top centre-backs who have played in the top leagues."

Senegal star Kalidou Koulibaly is one of the elite defenders Mohau Nkota faces in the RSL

RSL rivals at FIFA World Cup

It’s on an even grander stage, though, that Nkota hopes to appear later this year, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup only a matter of months away.

Drawn in Group A, South Africa will contest the opening match against co-host Mexico - a repeat of the opener from 2010, when they became the first African nation to host football's showpiece event.

It could see Nkota lining up against a local rival in the form of Al Qadsiah’s Julian Quinones, whom he has just faced twice in the past couple of months, in the RSL's fierce Eastern Derby.

So, how would Nkota, who'd be competing at a first World Cup, relish such an experience?

“For me, it's going to be a very good game,” he says. “Playing against [Quinones] in the league and then playing against him in the World Cup, it's going to be a lot easier for me having gotten to know him - how he plays in the league and then in the World Cup.”

Bafana Bafana dream

After that, come matches against Czech Republic and South Korea, as South Africa seek to advance from the group stage for the first time in their history.

“We have a very good team; we have a lot of quality,” Nkota says. “I believe it’s achievable for us to go to the next round.

“Going to the World Cup, we want to make it a dream. We want people to remember what we left at the World Cup. We want to make sure that we leave a mark, make sure we play our best. And then we hope that something good will come.”