Exclusive: The rise and rise of Magesi FC keeper Elvis Chipezeze

Photo Credit: Magesi FC

Magesi FC’s fluctuating performance has flattered to deceive this season, from being the 2024/25 Carling Black Label Cup kings to flirting dangerously with relegation from South Africa’s Betway Premiership.

However, goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze’s form between the sticks has refused to dance to such variations. Even in defeat, he always redeems himself with breathtaking point-blank saves and blocks, bossing the box with saves bordering on sheer insanity.

For those yet to feast their eyes on this sharp-eyed Zimbabwean goalkeeper who leaps like a dolphin, there are statistics to tell his crusade.

Chipezeze is probably the most in-form goalkeeper in the Betway Premiership after keeping 11 clean sheets in 22 league matches, representing a 50 percent success rate.

He is only surpassed by Bafana Bafana’s number one Ronwen Williams who has eight clean sheets in 14 games or 57.1 percent this season for Mamelodi Sundowns.

Such a resurgence is unsurprising to Zimbabwean agent Gibson Mahachi, who spoke to Pan-Africa Football to share the secret behind his client’s revival.

“I moved him to South Africa years ago; hence I am not surprised with his performances.  That is how he is. That is why we exported him. It is crazy but each player carries himself differently,” he said.

The 35-year-old first arrived in South Africa in 2018 to sign a three-year contract with Baroka FC when they were campaigning in the PSL.

The Zimbabwean did not take long to endear himself to the Baroka FC family. His exploits helped him win the 2018 Telekom KnockOut Cup Goalkeeper of the Tournament accolade. Two years later, he earned the club’s armband, a recognition of his growing influence in the team.

Before crossing the Limpopo River to South Africa, the towering shot-stopper had scooped the Zimbabwe Goalkeeper of the Year gong with Chicken Inn FC. However, with Baroka relegated in 2022, the club had no choice but to release him as they could not afford his wages.

At that stage, the Zimbabwean keeper’s career seemed headed to nowhere until Magesi, then campaigning in the second-tier league, handed him a lifeline; a union that helped the team’s promotion to the Betway Premiership this season.

Magesi FC started this season with a bang, winning the Carling Black Label KnockOut Cup after stunning Mamelodi Sundowns late last year. However, the club’s league form dipped prompting coach Clinton Larsen to quit.

New coach Owen Da Gama is now steering the club away from the relegation zone, lying 11th in the log table. Such improvements are partly due to the Zimbabwean keeper’s hard work and commitment which rub off the rest of the team.

Even in the darkest hour, Chipezeze has provided a rare source of light, a development Mahachi attributes to sheer hard work.

“He is disciplined; quite focused. He knows what he wants. It is about discipline, knowing what he wants and hard work. He knows what to do and how to maintain his body,” the agent added.

The PSL acknowledged the impressive displays of the keeper by giving him the Player of the Month accolade for March 2025, a reward for keeping four clean sheets in four league games and five overall during the month.

“Zimbabwean international’s acrobatic saves and composure in goals have been instrumental in his side’s recent improvement on the Betway Premiership table, with only one goal concession against Kaizer Chiefs in a narrow 1-0 defeat away from home,” the PSL's statement reads.

Capped nine times, the custodian should be hoping for another chance to play for the Zimbabwe national team and atone for his horror showing at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations where his calamitous goalkeeping in the 4-0 loss to the Democratic Republic of the Congo contributed to the Warriors exit from the tournament’s group stages.

For now, Chipezeze has to be patient and content delivering the goods in a foreign land while the Warriors mentor Michael Nees sticks to Washington Arubi as the country’s number one. Just don’t be careless to rule out Chipezeze’s return to the gold and green.