Khanyisa Mayo has emerged as one of the leading forwards in the DStv Premiership over the last 18 months, finishing as joint top-scorer with Peter Shalulile in the 2022/23 season and carrying that form into the current campaign.
The Cape Town City star has 18 goals in 34 top-flight starts since the beginning of the last campaign, an excellent return for a player who most often features out on the right wing.
The son of former Bafana Bafana striker Patrick Mayo, he has blossomed since arriving in the Mother City from then second-tier Richards Bay, but it has not been an easy path despite his famous father.
He reveals he thought about taking his sporting career in a different direction early on.
“In my primary school days I actually did athletics because I was fast, and then I also started playing cricket,” Mayo told SuperSport.com. “I was good at both cricket and football, and I guess there was a time I had to make a choice. I chose soccer because that was a career that was in the family already.”
In fact, Mayo’s younger brother Khanyisile, who played for Chippa United last season, initially looked the more promising of the two.
“I used to play for a local club in the LFA [Local Football Association] called Crystal Palace in Motherwell, that was where I really started out,” Khanyisa said. “I was there from under-10 level until I made it into the first team, which was playing in the SAB League [fourth-tier].
“I was probably only 14 or 15 at the time, but I was playing as a regular. I then went to Chippa United and they told me it was time to move on for a new chapter. My dad was the assistant coach in the MDC [MultiChoice Diski Challenge] team.
“After playing half a season at Chippa, where I was the leading goalscorer, SuperSport United came knocking. It actually started with my brother, who played in the under-17 Engen Knockout tournament in Gqeberha, where Kaitano Tembo was the head scout for SuperSport and spotted him. I was playing for Chippa when they scouted me.”
Mayo was selected for the South African side that competed at the 2015 Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Chile, picked out of obscurity by national team coach Molefi Ntseki.
“I remember back in the day I was watching the 2013 Under-17 World Cup [in United Arab Emirates] and I told my Dad, ‘in the next few years, I see myself playing in the same World Cup’. And by God’s grace, it happened [in 2015].
“My family knows about this, but I also previously said that I wouldn’t mind playing for Cape Town City because it is a well-structured team. And a few years down the line, City signed me. These are goals or targets that I set myself as an individual and they happened.”
Mayo scored in South Africa’s opening 2-1 loss to Costa Rica, with Thendo Mukumela, via a penalty, the only other player to get on the scoresheet for the team at the tournament.
“I have to thank Molefi Ntseki, because he was the Under-17 national team coach then. I don’t think anybody expected him to pick a player from LFA level. Everybody was like, ‘who is this guy from the LFA that is in the national team?’
“But he saw something in me, regardless of the team I was playing at. He felt I could make it and he gave me the chance to showcase my talent. He spotted me at an interprovincial tournament … whereas lots of players were excelling at the academies of SuperSport, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
“He gave me an opportunity and here I am today at one of the biggest clubs in South Africa. But you know, a lot of guys that I played with back then [in the LFA league] were great players, high calibre players. Today they don’t have a club, but I do. That is football I guess.”
Mayo has excelled under current City coach Eric Tinkler, but this is not their first time together. The former Bafana Bafana midfielder had a hand in the winger’s early development too when he joined SuperSport for the 2017/18 season, sending the player on loan to second-tier Ubuntu in Cape Town.
“When coach Eric came to SuperSport, he suggested I go on loan to improve as I was 19, but competing with the likes of Jeremy Brockie, Kingston Nkhatha and Bradley Grobler,” Mayo says. “So it was not going to be easy for me to get game-time. It was the right move. It was a great opportunity for me to express my talent.
“It was my first loan and it was a great experience, and I proved that I wanted to be there and have what it takes to compete. I really enjoyed it at Ubuntu.”
He never played a first-team game for Matsatsantsa with so much experienced talent in their forward line, instead ending up with a permanent move to the Motsepe Championship.
“As I was about to get promoted to the first team at SuperSport, Royal Eagles came along and said they wanted to sign me on a permanent basis. So they put in an offer and SuperSport decided to sell me,” Mayo said.
“I thought I did really well with Eagles, who of course later became Royal AM. But in the last game of the first round [of the season], we beat Richards Bay 3-2 and I got two penalties in the game and put in a pretty good all-round performance.
“The chairman of Richards Bay [Jomo Biyela] came to me and said: 'There is no way you are going back to Eagles, you are joining my club in January’. I was just laughing at him, I thought he was joking.
“But he bought me from Eagles, who were going through some financial difficulties at that time, they had to sell some of their best players and I was one of those that season. They had to generate the income to pay salaries.
“I came in during the season obviously, but I still managed to be the top scorer at the club. The second season [2020-21] was just an incredible one for me. That is where I told myself, this is my last year in the GladAfrica Championship.
“I felt like I was ready to take the step up to play with the big boys in the PSL, or even overseas. My first hope was to go overseas, but I told myself that if I can go to the PSL, that will allow me to make a mark.”
He joined City at the start of 2021/22 and in two-and-a-half seasons has become the club’s record goal-scorer with 24 goals in 58 starts in all competitions to date.
City have said they are open to selling Mayo, but have slapped a $2-million (approximately R38-million) price-tag on his head and are not interested in offloading him locally.
“Mayo’s value is in excess of $2 million, in my opinion, and we're not going to compromise. And, also, he also deserves to go to a big club,” City owner John Comitis said. “So, we want to be patient. He himself understands that he possibly needs one more season with us.
“If Mayo gets 15 goals this season, it is going to be the hardest thing to keep him in this country. We've had a lot of interest from Qatar, we had a lot of interest from Saudi Arabia. But I think he deserves to go to Europe. He has that ability. And he's got the mentality for it.
“But I do think that he has a job to do with us here. And I think with his goals, we can certainly turn that into silverware.”