Ben Motshwari brought up his 50th appearance for Orlando Pirates as they beat Chippa United 1-0 at the Orlando Stadium in the DStv Premiership on Wednesday evening.

The 29-year-old joined the Buccaneers from the now-defunct Bidvest Wits on 1 July 2018 and has since scored three goals and assisted a further three in his 50 appearances across all competitions.

Motshwari spoke to the Orlando Pirates official website to reflect on his past performances as well as his future ambitions with the club.

You’ve approached 50 league appearances for Orlando Pirates, is this something you were aware of?

Really? [laughs] … I didn’t know that. Wow!

Having been at the club as long as you have, is there a performance you look back on fondly?

There are plenty of games where I’ve played well, but that one against Esperance was special. Especially with it being in the Caf Champions League.

As one of the more experienced players in the first team, do you consider yourself as one of the leaders?

I wouldn’t necessarily say I consider myself one of the leaders. There are still plenty of leaders amongst the guys, you know … Happy Jele, Nyauza and, now recently, we have Thulani Hlatshwayo. But I’m learning a lot from these guys. They have been leaders for so many years. For me, it’s about learning from them and striving to be a better leader.

You’ve had a relatively good start to the season, both on a personal level and the team as a whole. How happy are you with how things have gone so far?

This season, the positive thing that I can take out is that I haven’t gotten injured yet. Last season and the season before, I had injuries in the beginning of the season. But now, thanks to our conditioning coach, fitness coach and the technical team as well, the load for the players is well managed. I think that’s going to be really important this season.

Lastly, what do you hope you can still achieve during your time with the club?

The MTN8 victory was a big morale booster. Not just for the players, but the supporters as well, especially for the club, because the club had not won anything for six years. It’s for us now to try and add to that. This season, we have the squad to do it.