Olwethu Makhanya: From Doubt to Defence Leader in Rangers
Olwethu Makhanya still remembers the phone call that kept his career alive.
Sixteen years old, alone in Johannesburg, trials stalling, belief draining away. He picked up the phone and told his mother he was coming home, ready to park the dream and focus on education instead.
Her answer changed everything.
“You left here telling me that you're going to go play football, so I want you to do that,” she told him. No soft landing, no escape route. Just a clear demand: keep going.
He did. And now, at 22, the South Africa international stands on the brink of his first Old Firm, an emerging pillar in Derek McInnes’ Rangers back line and a symbol of a defence that has quietly hardened into one of the side’s biggest strengths.
From doubt to defence leader
Makhanya left home at 16 to chase a contract in Johannesburg. It didn’t click straight away. The move to Stellenbosch only arrived after that decisive intervention from his mother, who, along with his father, he credits as the driving force behind his career.
“I think my parents, especially my mum, played a really big role in me becoming a professional footballer,” he said. The words are simple, but the story behind them is not. A teenager on the verge of walking away, pulled back onto the path by a parent who refused to let him quit on himself.
That resolve is written all over his start to life in Scotland.
Since arriving from Philadelphia Union in the summer, Makhanya has looked assured in McInnes’ system, slotting into a defence that has conceded just one goal across a four-game league winning run. He reads danger early, steps in with conviction, and rarely seems flustered. For a player still settling into a new country, new league and new expectations, it has been an impressive introduction.
A team finding its edge
The late midweek win over St Mirren underlined something deeper than just form. Rangers had to dig, stay patient, and trust themselves. When the breakthrough came, it felt like a team leaning on a growing inner steel rather than just riding a wave.
“I think it does highlight the fact that maybe the group is strong mentally,” Makhanya said. “That shows a lot of mentality and character from the boys.
“It's going to be very important to stay together. I think it shows a lot of togetherness and it's something that we've been working on off the field.”
That togetherness now faces its fiercest examination.
Rangers host Celtic in the League Cup quarter-final on Sunday, with a place at Hampden on the line and the first Old Firm of the season crackling in the background. For Makhanya, it will be a step into a level of intensity he openly admits he has never experienced before.
First taste of the Old Firm
The centre-half has played in big games, but nothing like this. Very few fixtures in world football carry the noise, the weight, the history of Rangers v Celtic. It is not just a match; it is a collision of identities, expectations and pressure that can swallow players whole if they let it.
“I think everyone understands what this fixture means to the club, to the fans and everyone,” he said. “I'm really excited and looking forward to it.
“I just know that it's going to be a very passionate game. I'm honestly expecting a really, really crazy game from the fans.”
He sounds ready for the chaos, ready for the roar. The plan, though, stays simple.
“We just have to try and do our job and deliver because we know the fans are going to be behind us. We're going to use them as an encouragement and also understand that we're also doing it for them. They're going to be very helpful for us.”
From that phone call at 16 to a League Cup quarter-final Old Firm at Ibrox, the journey has already taken in more than one turning point. Now comes another: a young defender, forged by a mother’s refusal to let him give up, walking into one of football’s most unforgiving fixtures to see just how far that belief can carry him.
