Nineteen minutes into Bafana Bafana's Nations Cup qualifier against Eritrea in Cairo on 30 September, Oswin Appollis slid a pass through and Relebohile Mofokeng finished calmly. In stoppage time he went past several defenders and rolled a second into the bottom corner. South Africa won 5-0, and the boy from Sharpeville who used to run the Orlando Pirates midfield now does it for Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium.
| Relebohile Mofokeng | At a glance |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 23 October 2004 (21) |
| Birthplace | Sharpeville, Gauteng |
| Position | Attacking midfielder, either wing |
| Current club | Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium), since July 2026 |
| Contract | To June 2030, plus a one-year club option |
| Reported fee | About €3.5m (R65.3m, roughly $3.9m) |
| Bafana debut | 11 June 2024 v Zimbabwe |
| Salary | Not officially disclosed |
From Pirates prodigy to record sale
Orlando Pirates confirmed the deal on 1 July 2026. The club said terms had been agreed before the World Cup but kept quiet so he could concentrate on Bafana Bafana. He flew from the United States to Belgium for his medical. Union unveiled him the next day in the number 38 shirt, on a four-year contract that the Mail & Guardian says runs to June 2030 with an option for one more season.
The fee was never published.
Early reports ranged from €1.5 million to €3 million. By September the Mail & Guardian was describing a figure of around €3.5 million, about R65.3 million, as a record for a player sold by a South African club, beating the mark set by Percy Tau, and that is now the number most often quoted whenever his name comes up in the South African press. At the US Federal Reserve rate of R16.67 to the dollar on 2 October 2026, that is roughly $3.9 million.
He did not leave quietly. His farewell on Instagram was long. “I arrived at Orlando Pirates as Rele, I leave as Relebohile Mofokeng,” he wrote.
The numbers behind the move
His last Pirates season explains the price. It was huge. Under Abdeslam Ouaddou he made 27 Betway Premiership appearances in 2025/26, with 10 goals and 8 assists. The Buccaneers overtook Mamelodi Sundowns to win their first league title in 14 years, then added the Carling Knockout and the MTN8 for a domestic treble. He was named PSL Footballer of the Season and Young Player of the Season for a third straight year.
Belgium has not slowed him down. Far from it. He scored the winning kick in the 5-4 Super Cup shootout against Club Brugge, his first trophy with Union. About a week later he came off the bench at Westerlo and steered home from close range in a 5-1 win. By late September the Mail & Guardian counted three league goals and an assist. He also scored on his Europa League debut, a 3-0 win at Viktoria Plzen.
Not bad for a first month.
Season by season
| Season | Club, all competitions |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | Orlando Pirates: 49 apps, 12 goals |
| 2025/26 | Orlando Pirates: 36 apps, 11 goals |
| 2026/27 | Union SG: 6 apps, 3 goals (to 17 September) |
Relebohile Mofokeng salary: what is known
Very little, officially. Neither club has published his wages, and nothing has been confirmed by the player or his camp. A figure of around R1.7 million a month circulated on social media when the transfer broke, and Briefly News and the Mail & Guardian both repeated it as reported rather than confirmed. At R16.67 to the dollar that would be just over $100,000 a month. Treat it with caution.
For context, our guide to PSL players' salaries shows how far a European wage sits above what most of the league earns. Compare him, too, with Bafana team-mates such as Oswin Appollis and Teboho Mokoena.
Bafana Bafana and the World Cup
He went to the 2026 World Cup. So did the hype. Against South Korea he started at number 10 and made four key passes. South Africa won. The Mail & Guardian noted that it took them into the knockout stage for the first time. Canada ended the run in the round of 32.
Pitso Mosimane has since taken over from Hugo Broos. He wants goals. “Rele is a top player; he's showing why he's gone to Europe,” Mosimane said in Cairo. “The most important thing is that Rele must score goals.” Two against Eritrea was a decent reply.
Our view from Lagos
Nigerian football has sent teenagers to Europe for decades, often too early. The Super Eagles have lived with the results, good and bad. Mofokeng did it the other way round. He stayed home, won almost everything on offer, helped end a 14-year wait for the league title and only then moved, at 21, to a Belgian club that plays in Europe every season and has a habit of selling its best players on to bigger leagues.
That is a model the NPFL would love to copy.
He turns 22 on 23 October. The bigger leagues will be watching.
This article was most recently revised and updated 24 seconds ago
