With Magesi in disarray since stunning Mamelodi Sundowns in the Carling Knockout final, KickOff has gathered behind the scenes information that has allegedly demoralized the squad.
Dikwena have not been themselves on and off the pitch since they made history by becoming the first promoted team to win a trophy in their first season after upsetting the odds, to edge star-studded Sundowns 2-1 towards the end of November.
It was perhaps not surprising that the Limpopo outfit lost their subsequent league game 2-0 to Chippa United, which ended their eight-game unbeaten run, as most champions struggle with the hangover, figuratively, going into the next match after winning a trophy.
However, Magesi were still flat in a 3-1 defeat to Marumo Gallants and lost three matches in a row after a narrow 1-0 defeat to SuperSport United, with their Premiership status in danger after dropping down to the bottom of the standings (before facing Orlando Pirates on 29 December).
The last straw that got everyone's attention, was a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of All Stars XI in the Carling Black Label Cup final, where former coach Clinton Larsen resigned live in his post-match TV interview.
READ | 'Magesi seems to be the weakest of the lot'
Information that has filtered through to this publication, from reliable sources, is that the chaos in the Magesi squad started when time came for the players and the management to receive their share of the bonuses, after the club received R6,85 million for winning the Carling Knockout.
This website has been led to believe, from well-placed sources at Dikwena, that the players got demotivated after they were allegedly only given bonuses of R5000 each for winning Carling Knockout.
"The working conditions just got difficult after that, players were visibly disappointed and the mood was down. But what can the players do? They are just grateful they got to make a name for themselves in the final," a well-placed source close to the club and players told KickOff.
"Can you imagine getting paid R5000 for winning a cup in the PSL? The money is even little for a match-win bonus of some clubs in the PSL and what made matters worse is that the players know that the players who participated in the All Stars XI all shared around R65 000 each last season.
"And they (All Stars) did not even win the real cup. But that is how things are down here my brother, there is no reward structure at all," the source added.