Tercious Malepe explains early return from Malta as PSL promotion beckons

Malepe, an Orlando Pirates youth academy product, was once tipped for a bright career as he captained the age group national teams but was somewhat derailed by several loan spells at Moroka Swallows, Ajax Cape Town and Chippa United over a five-year period.

He earned a move to Ukraine in 2020 before returning to the PSL and then left for Malta side Balzan FC in 2024, but he quietly returned to Kruger towards the end of 2025 and could soon be crowned Motsepe Foundation Championship champion.

Malepe has detailed the incident that led to his abrupt return from a second attempt at making inroads abroad.

"No I came back because my work permit didn't come out and I had to fly back to renew it, but because I overstayed, they couldn't release my new temporary permit to go back and finish up the season," explained Malepe.

READ: South African football needs Pitso Mosimane - Katlego Mphela

"So I had to stay home and train by myself while my contract came to an end, and when it finished up I started looking for other opportunities and Mr Elasto [Kapowezha] came before the season started and said, 'Hey, Tercious, we are interested.'

"I said, 'No, at the moment there are certain things I'm still looking at so at the moment I'm not able to come, I'm just exploring other options that I have.' 

"But, of course, it didn't materialise and then he called me again, I think it was November or somewhere there, and he was like, 'Tercious, the offer is still on the table, are you keen to come?'

"That's when they got Abram Mongoya [as the new head coach] and I was like, 'Ok, it's fine,' because what I was waiting for didn't materialise, so I took the offer but I also had to first see what they have in the squad.

"So I sat down and I was looking, there was the likes of [Celimpilo] Ngema, Wandisile Letlabika, and I was convinced by the project, so why not? Let's go there, do our best and see how far we can go."

United are now potentially just 90 minutes away from automatic promotion to the elite league, but the 29-year-old has confirmed his future is yet to be decided beyond the end of this season.

"Ja, my contract will be ending now at the end of this season, hence we haven't had a chance to sit down [because], like I said, we are focussed on the job at hand," Malepe added.

"We will see when the season is over what will happen, we will have a sit down and talk about [the future] and we'll see how it goes."