TSHEPO “SKHWAMA” MATETE
THE KING OF KASI FOOTBALL
Before the contracts and the headlines, there was a ball, a crowd and a player doing things nobody could quite explain. The 2015 footage helped take Skhwama's magic beyond the kasi. This is his story — and the Diski Domain archive that captured it.
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2015. ALEXANDRA. A MOMENT THAT TRAVELLED. ↗THE FEATURED VIDEO / TSHEPO Matete Skhwama Skills - 2015
The afternoon Alexandra turned into a movie
Some football afternoons stay with you long after the final whistle. For Diski Domain, one of those afternoons came at the 2015 Maimane Alfred Phiri Games, with Sun City Classic on the pitch in Alexandra.
The light was falling. The crowd was alive. And somewhere in the middle of it all was Tshepo Matete, better known as Skhwama.
There are footballers who beat a defender and get on with the game. Skhwama could make beating a defender feel like the beginning of a completely different show. A touch, a feint, a pause nobody expected — and suddenly the crowd was reacting before the move had even finished.
It was the sort of football that made people turn to whoever was standing next to them and ask whether they'd really just seen that.
That afternoon mattered for more than the tricks. Diski Domain was filming in the thick of a remarkable period for South African grassroots football. The clips from 2015, including footage from the Maimane Alfred Phiri Games and Pastor Mboro's Community Games, travelled far beyond the grounds where they were recorded. Audiences who had never stood beside a kasi football pitch were discovering the personality, theatre and invention of the game through a screen.
For those who were there, the atmosphere came first. For everyone who found the footage later, the magic still came through.
Why Skhwama was different
Call it showboating, street football, flair or pure imagination. None of those labels quite catches the experience of watching Skhwama at his most daring.
His best moments were not simply a collection of familiar stepovers. He had an instinct for doing something unexpected with the ball — for interrupting the rhythm of a match and making even the opposition wonder what was coming next. A move could look impossible until he had already completed it.
That is why the old clips remain watchable. You are not just waiting to see whether a pass reaches a teammate. You are waiting to see what idea he comes up with next.
And the crowd is part of the story. Kasi football has always had room for personality: the laughter after a cheeky move, the noise when a defender is caught out, the expectation that the next touch might be worth remembering. Skhwama understood that relationship between player and audience. He could make a small patch of grass feel like a stage.
“The King of Kasi Football” is Diski Domain's tribute to that influence. It is not a trophy or an official ranking. Plenty of great players have shaped the scene, and fans will argue forever about their favourites. But few names are so instantly associated with the era when kasi football videos began travelling around the world.
Skhwama is one of them.
2015: When the world started watching
It is difficult now to remember how different online football looked in 2015. Short-form video was not the all-consuming feed it would become. A grassroots footballer did not need a stadium television broadcast to reach an international audience, but getting there still took something special: a remarkable player, somebody filming, and viewers who could not resist sharing what they had seen.
That was the moment Skhwama stepped into.
His performances at local tournaments helped turn his nickname into a calling card. Diski Domain's early footage was part of that wave, recording the skill and the crowd reaction together. The videos did not invent his talent. They allowed people far from Alexandra, Katlehong and the tournament circuit to see it for themselves.
For Diski Domain, 2015 was a breakout year for kasi football on camera. Skhwama was central to that story. The footage was shared internationally and became part of the growing online fascination with South African football artistry. We won't pretend to know exactly which upload reached every country first, or claim a measurable world-first without evidence. What matters is visible in the archive: an extraordinary player, a moment in time, and footage that still draws people back.
There is a beautiful twist to what happened next. Those videos were not just entertainment. They helped open a door into professional football.
From the Maimane Phiri Games to Baroka FC
In January 2016, a local newspaper reported a remarkable detail about Skhwama's arrival at Baroka FC: club scouts had spotted him at the 2015 Maimane Phiri Tournament. The report also said the new signing scored on his debut for Baroka, then competing in the National First Division.
Think about that journey. A footballer making people lose their minds at a community tournament had attracted the attention of a professional club. A player many people knew through clips and word of mouth was suddenly being discussed in the same breath as a promotion-chasing team.
It is tempting to write this as a fairy tale, with a viral video followed by an uninterrupted climb to the top. Football rarely works that neatly.
Baroka went on to compete in the Premiership, but Skhwama struggled for regular opportunities. By late 2016, local reporting was questioning his prospects and describing limited game time. He left the club in January 2017.
There was a genuine football question behind the headlines. Could the freedom that made him a phenomenon in kasi football fit the structure and demands of the professional game? At one level, it was about minutes, roles and coaches' expectations. At another, it was a debate about what the game makes room for when a player has a style that refuses to look ordinary.
None of that takes away the achievement. The boy with the outrageous tricks had reached the professional stage. The road simply proved more complicated than the highlights.
Botswana, a new role and a second chance
After Baroka came Township Rollers in Botswana. The move put Skhwama into another football culture and, at times, a very different job on the pitch.
In 2017, reporting from Botswana described the reaction to his tricks and the balancing act his coach faced: letting the crowd enjoy the show while asking the player to deliver within the team's plan. There were even reports of him being used at left-back, far from the free-running attacking role many supporters associated with him.
That contrast tells you a lot about the professional chapter. A crowd might arrive hoping for a piece of magic; a coach also needs positioning, discipline and results. Neither side of that conversation is ridiculous. They are simply different demands on the same footballer.
His first spell with Rollers ended in 2018. Skhwama later spoke publicly about how difficult the period had been, including the impact of losing his father. It is an important reminder that careers are lived by people, not just reduced to appearances and transfer dates.
He kept moving. University of Pretoria (AmaTuks) confirmed his signing in January 2020, and his career also took him through Mbabane Highlanders in Eswatini and Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila. These chapters may not have generated the same worldwide fascination as the 2015 clips, but they are part of the full story: a player continuing to search for his place in professional football.
Chippa United and the return to Township Rollers
In early 2023, Skhwama signed for Chippa United, bringing him back to South Africa's top flight. The move made headlines because the name still meant something to football supporters who remembered the skills and the crowds. But opportunities were limited: contemporary reports recorded one league appearance during his spell with the club.
In July 2023, he returned to Township Rollers for a second stint, this time joining a squad that also included another celebrated South African dribbler, Thabo Rakhale.
There were setbacks again. In September 2024, Botswana newspaper Mmegi reported that Rollers had de-registered Matete and Rakhale ahead of the season because of injury concerns, with their situations due for review. Public player databases do not consistently agree about his later status, so we are not going to invent a current club or declare a definitive retirement.
The timeline is worth knowing. It gives the 2015 footage more depth, not less. The player in those videos went on to face the same selection decisions, injuries, changes of club and uncertainty that shape countless professional careers.
But his story was never going to be measured only by league appearances.
Why the king's influence outlived the highlights
Football history is full of arguments about what makes a great player. Goals? Trophies? Longevity? The level reached? All fair questions.
Kasi football has another kind of legacy too: the player whose moves become a language of their own. The player younger footballers imitate on dusty grounds and artificial pitches. The player whose name comes up whenever somebody tries something outrageous with the ball.
Skhwama belongs in that conversation.
He helped show a much wider audience that the amateur game in South Africa was not a lesser version of football. It had its own identity, its own stars, its own sense of humour and its own moments of genius. The internet did not create that culture. It finally gave more people a window into it.
And for Diski Domain, the connection is personal in the best sense: years after those early tournament encounters, the relationship has grown into a friendship. The player who once drew a crowd at the edge of a pitch is still somebody worth stopping to catch up with. That is a more lasting thing than a viral moment.
There will always be another generation of dribblers. There should be. The kasi game needs new names and new ideas. But when people talk about the moment those skills began reaching viewers across the world, Skhwama's name is never far away.
Some players have a highlight reel. Skhwama helped define an era.
Watch Skhwama: The Diski Domain archive
The footage is the reason this story can be told with more than memory. Below are the original Diski Domain uploads that trace Skhwama's skills, tournament moments, celebrations and later appearances. Some videos were uploaded years after the action was filmed; an upload date is not necessarily the match date.
Start with the 2015 material. Watch the reactions around him as closely as the ball. Then follow the clips forward and see why the nickname still makes people smile.
Featured / foundational footage
TSHEPO Matete Skhwama Skills - 2015
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Open the watch page ↗SKHWAMA Tshepo Matete Experience: Prepare to Be Dazzled by His Kasi Football Skills | Diski Domain
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Open the watch page ↗Mind-Blowing Football Tricks by Tshepo SKHWAMA Matete
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Open the watch page ↗Before July Ends , throw it 🔙 8 years ago. Skhwama , Tshepo Matete 🐐 ⚽️💨
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Open the watch page ↗Tournament, action and celebration
Tshepo Skhwama Matete's Epic Penalty & Field Celebration | MAP Games 2019 Throwback
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Open the watch page ↗CRush in the CRowd - Part3️⃣ Skhwama Dazzles Kasi Football #kasifootball #diskidomain
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Open the watch page ↗CRush in the CRowd - Part 1️⃣ - SKHWAMA | Kasi Football | Kasi Flava #kasifootball #diskidomain
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Open the watch page ↗Skhwama Sama Trrr - Tshepo Matete ⚡️Junior Khanye Top 8 #kasifootball
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Open the watch page ↗Gucci 👜🗣Skhwama Sama Trrr #Kasifootball
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Open the watch page ↗Skhwama Skill #tbt #skhwama #kasiflava #kasifootball
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Open the watch page ↗#footballshorts #skhwama #tshepomatete #kasiflava
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Open the watch page ↗Legacy / recent tributes
Tshepo Matete | "Skhwama" | New Chippa United signing | Kasi Football
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Open the watch page ↗HAPPY Birthday Tshepo Matete 🎈🎂🙏 Skhwama aka Gucci Bag 🇿🇦 #soccer
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Open the watch page ↗Happy birthday to living legend SKHWAMA, Tshepo Matete 🎂🎈
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Open the watch page ↗SKHWAMA 🐐 Gucci
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Open the watch page ↗Frequently asked questions about Skhwama
What is Skhwama's real name?
Skhwama is the football nickname of Tshepo Matete, also widely called Skhwama Sama Tariyana or Gucci Bag. He is a South African footballer known for his extraordinary dribbling and showboating skills.
Why is Skhwama famous?
He became widely known through spectacular performances at South African kasi football tournaments, especially during the 2015 breakout period when grassroots football clips began reaching international audiences. His skill videos helped build a following well beyond the grounds where he played.
Did Skhwama play for Baroka FC?
Yes. Baroka signed him after he was spotted at the 2015 Maimane Phiri Tournament, according to reporting published in January 2016. He scored on his debut while the club was in the National First Division and later appeared in the Premiership.
Which professional teams has Skhwama played for?
His reported career includes Baroka FC, Township Rollers in Botswana, University of Pretoria (AmaTuks), Mbabane Highlanders in Eswatini, Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila and Chippa United. Township Rollers signed him for a second spell in 2023.
Where can I watch Skhwama's original kasi football skills videos?
Right here in the Diski Domain Skhwama archive, featuring original uploads from his early skills era and later tournament appearances. Browse the clips above or explore the individual videos in The Vault.
Reporting references: Review — Baroka’s Daveyton scouting and debut goal (2016) · FARPost — the return to Township Rollers (2023) · Mmegi — Rollers’ injury-related de-registration (2024)