NEXT GENERATION

Who are the top young talents coming through at Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs? Mazola Molefe reveals his top five picks

- Mazola Molefe

The Kaizer Chiefs Youth T Development Academy has come a long way since it was rocked by an age-cheating scandal and abruptly forced to shut down.

In 2010, the club confirmed closing down the programme temporarily after discovering the majority of players thought to still be in their early teens were using fake ID just to get a foot in.

Amakhosi have made great strides since, producing a large pool of players who could well be the stars of tomorrow at Naturena. Here are our top five.

MDUDUZI SHABALALA
Age: 19

The young forward is currently enjoying a breakthrough season in the top flight following his promotion from the reserve league by coach Arthur Zwane.

What works to his advantage is that the Chiefs senior-team head coach knows Shabalala well from his own stint in the academy before he was elevated and took over from Stuart Baxter a year ago.