Richards Bay coach on injury progress and January reinforcements

The midfielder has been unavailable since early November 2025, with his last appearance coming in the league fixture against Orlando Pirates.

Speaking after the Natal Rich Boyz’ 1–1 draw with Siwelele FC, Gabriel confirmed that Mcineka is nearing a return, estimating a comeback within the next one to two weeks, while Gabadinho Mhango and Tshepo Mabua are still continuing with their recovery programmes and are not yet match-ready.

"Back in training, he's training, he should be back next week. We just need to work on his sharpness and get him there. The other two are still on the injury table, we are still waiting to see how many weeks are left for them to come back but that's the status of those three injured players right now,” Gabriel said.

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Richards Bay were active during the January transfer window, strengthening their squad with several additions across the pitch.

Defender Thembela Sikhakhane, formerly of AmaZulu, joined the club as a free agent and was already included in the matchday squad against Siwelele FC.

The club has also secured Kenyan international winger Vincent Oburu from ZESCO United, added versatile defender and midfielder Tully Nashixwa from African Stars, and brought in Sabelo Radebe on loan from Kaizer Chiefs.

Gabriel outlines that the new recruits will be phased into action as they build match fitness ahead of the second round of the season.

"Thembela was on match day 20 today so his documents, his card were ready for today. The other two, we'll just wait for the documents and then at training they're showing good signs and we are hopeful that they are gonna add impact into the team going into the second round,” the coach explained.