Phillip Nkoana: A Leader With Intention

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Deep in the rural and somewhat isolated village of Greenside otherwise called Doornspruit, you find members of the community dedicated to making their community a better place and having an emphasis on sports and education, among them is Nelson Nkoana, A gentlemen who grew up in Greenside and left to pursue greener pastures but never forgot home.

Phillip Nkoana was born in the year 1978 on the 19th of August.  Attended Pathametsane Primary School in 1984 and progressed to Motswaledi Secondary School in 1996. “Even in my youngers school years, I had love for sports and reading, I would participate in sporting events at schools, like running and football, everyday afterschool, when I was at Motswaledi, I would go to football practice. On Weekends I would watch local teams play against one another, I loved it.”

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After completing his Tertiary studies at The University of Polokwane, Nkoana describes being lucky that he got work right away, but throughout his young career he occupied different jobs, into his thirties, he had amassed from his perspective, “a generous amount of money”.  In the year 2011 he established a local football team and called it, Sekhukhune Arsenal, although most just called it Arsenal.

“My primary reason for the team, was that I loved football, it was passion for me, but also there were a lot of community members who shared that passion, amongst them was youth of this place, I saw talent and I saw that some had nothing to do, so too keep them busy and decrease the chances of the doing something wrong. They also had to play for other teams from nearby communities, so I said no! let us make our own.”

Sekhukhune Arsenal was an instance success among the community and others, it garnered support and praise by members of the community and others outside of it, Nkoana mentions a time when his players would get into the playground wearing their green and white kit, and people would cheer for them.

Nkoana certainly played a significant role in young people’s lives, that far extends beyond the pitch, as lessons in football can be applied in life in general such as consistency and discipline. Some of them to date, look to be doing well for themselves.

Nkoana also assisted with the local high school, when it had a severe shortage of teachers, he volunteered to teach them maths on weekends, inspiring former matriculants to also pitch in. He further helped with getting students into tertiary institutions and offered advice.   

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That is not were Nkoana stopped, currently Nkoana serves on Lefata la Sechaba, a council that focuses on various issues in the community, such as funerals and anything that requires collective effort, it reconvenes every first Sunday of every month, “I have never missed a single meeting, since I got into the council. Currently Nkoana also serves as Emphraim Mogale ward 13 councillors, after his election in the 2021 local elections.

Under his leadership, he has encouraged sporting and educational programmes, while working on other projects such as, building new toilets, installing streetlamps. He even does the smallest things such as giving students a lift to and back from school if on that particular day he finds them on the road. Nkoana has expressed that after here he would like to contest a hire office as to better serve his community, as he feels that is where he can make even a bigger impact.