Rulani – Biggest Change In My Personality Since Leaving SA

MC Alger head coach Rulani Mokwena has revealed the biggest change in his personality since leaving South Africa for North Africa. 

The 38-year-old coach moved to the Northern part of the African continent when he joined Wydad Casablanca last season after parting ways with Mamelodi Sundowns.

He was with the Moroccan side until April, towards the end of the 2024/25 Botola Pro Inwi season. 

Now leading MC Alger since July, Mokwena has overseen a stellar start to the campaign, guiding his side to seven wins from eight league matches. 

Alger top the table with 22 points and three games in hand, while also securing a spot in the CAF Champions League group stages.

Mokwena revealed that the biggest shift in his personality has been learning to let his work speak for itself, rather than engaging frequently with the media as he once did in South Africa.

He described this as his most significant personal change in the past year, adding that he considers himself one of the hardest-working coaches on the continent.

“I’ve learnt a lot about myself and one of the things I’ve realised is that I’m stronger than I thought,” said Mokwena.

“It’s very difficult, many people think it’s easy. This is a very difficult profession; I was telling one of my players not to be as stupid as me to go into coaching.

“But also, it’s an extremely rewarding profession in the sense that you develop not just qualities of leading yourself but also being able to see and lead others.

“I’ve learnt that there’s a lot of reward in silence, working a little bit harder behind the scenes, speaking less in the media and even on social media.

“You hear far less from me than probably it was the norm in South Africa. Maybe that’s because I did a lot of press conferences and it was mandatory.

“But I just like to sit back and watch my work speaks for itself. That’s something I have learnt about myself that I don’t always have to speak or defend myself or focus on things that won’t help me.

“I always think I’m not the best coach in Africa, but I feel I’m the hardest working coach. And that I think is something that is a weapon of mine that I have to trust than my mouth.

“I think that has probably been my biggest takeout or change in my personality over the year or so.”

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