Makhanya praised: ‘He looks like a real deal’

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Makhanya praised: ‘He looks like a real deal’

Aug 30, 2026 – 08:56 am
By Thato Bosoga

After Olwethu Makhanya hit the ground running at Rangers, KickOff got a review on the Bafana Bafana defender’s start from up close in Scotland.

Makhanya’s debut for The Gers, after his signing from Philadelphia Union, was delayed due to work permit issues but he eventually made his first official appearance in the second game of the Scottish Premiership, in a 2-1 defeat to Hibernian two weeks ago, where he started and played the full 90 minutes.

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After the former Stellenbosch defender received rave reviews from the Rangers supporters on social media, particularly after European competitions qualifying matches, KickOff spoke to Rangers Review Journalist Derek Clark on how the 22-year-old has settled so far.

“He certainly has (been well received), he’s been really good. He has settled in really well, he looks like he has been playing at Rangers for a number of years, he has not looked out of place at all,” Clark said.

“You tend to find Rangers signings, they’ve made 12 new signings this summer, many of them take time to adapt, because a lot of them Scottish football is not what they are used to.

“But he (Makhanya) has settled really well, the fans are happy with him, the manager is really happy with him as well, hopefully he can keep that up because he looks a real deal at the moment,” Clark said.

Rangers were eliminated by Polish side Jagiellonia after losing 3-2 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa League third round qualifying (Makhanya was on the bench for the first-leg).

“It was a blow because many expected Rangers to beat the team they were up against, a Polish team, it’s a brand new team, last season they were really poor,” Clark explained.

“It was not so much the fault of Makhanya but certainly in the forward areas Rangers lacked real quality to be honest. I know they are trying to sign two players in the next day or two, which would help things,” Clark added.

The Gers have dropped down to the Europa Conference League play-off round, where they won the first-leg 1-0 against Czech side Jablonec.