A peek into the earnings of Bongani Zungu has revealed that he is worth $4 million. The South African football player is listed among the country’s top stars who currently play abroad. Zungu owes this feat to his exceptional talent that is evident whenever he hits the field of play. A skilled midfielder, Bongani has played for his country and also explored the horizon in other platforms where he has equally excelled.
Zungu began his career at the University of Pretoria before going abroad to play in Europe, where he has featured for several clubs. Presently, the midfielder is enjoying the fruits of his labor, which we have seen in the type of cars he drives and the houses he owns. With such a huge fortune to his name, it is safe to say he can afford any luxury he desires and his career is still active and yielding good results, thus, there is more luxury waiting for him in the future. The football player is still relatively young and has the advantage of time. Besides, the South African native is still left with enough exuberance to attain greater heights in football.
How Bongani Zungu Accrued His Net Worth Of $4 Million
A 2021 estimation of Bongani Zungu’s net worth pegged it at an admirable $4 million. Though the South African midfielder earned a lion’s share of the content of his wallet from his career in football, he has other money-spinning endeavors that have made enormous contributions to his overall wealth. Notable among them are his endorsement deals with A-list brands. This doesn’t come as a surprise since he has rightly earned a name in the world of sports.
A Breakdown Of His Salaries Over The Years
Bongani Zungu started earning good pay from his early days in football and needless to say, his annual remuneration increased as he went up the success ladder. The soccer star may not have been the highest-earning player when he was with the Mamelodi Sundowns but he was speculated to be receiving a weekly pay of £2,500. For the season he played with Vitória Sport Clube, the SA midfielder earned about £3,500 per week.
Zungu’s monthly take-home with Amiens was R368,000, a figure that came about as a result of the club’s very modest budget. Even at that, the midfielder was still earning higher than South African PSL players that received R100,000 on average. With that amount, Zungu was on a higher level than some of the league’s highest-paid players; the likes of Kaizer Chiefs’ Bernard Parker and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Gaston Sirino who earned R300,000 monthly.
Bongani Zungu’s current remuneration with Rangers in Scotland is £12,500 per week; that means his monthly take-home is up to £50,000. Annually, it gets to as much as £600,000. This amount is excluding the bonuses which when added, can get it up to a total of £780,000. The aforestated amounts were for the most recent 2020/2021 season and may shoot up for the ensuing 2021/2022 season.
Bongani Zungu may be far from the highest earner in Rangers at this time, but he is not among the least. The players that are currently earning higher than him are 11 in number; they include the likes of Kemar Roofe and Jermain Defoe who get a weekly pay of £35,000. No doubt, his remunerations will go higher with time as he continues to soar to greater heights as a footballer.
- Mamelodi Sundowns: £130,000 in 2014
- Mamelodi Sundowns: £130,000 in 2015
- Mamelodi Sundowns: £182,000 in 2016
- Vitória Sport Clube: £182,000 in 2017
- Amiens: £286,000 in 2018
- Amiens: £286,000 in 2019
- Rangers: £780,000 in 2020
Zungu Has Also Inked A Few Endorsement Deals
The South African football star has leveraged the advantage of his fame to make extra money through brand endorsements for notable companies. Endorsement deals are like horse and cart in the career life of any celebrity, be it in sports, movies, music, and the likes. For Bongani Zungu, his successful career has made him a target for big brands that wish to leverage his fame to boost their sales and create wider-reaching awareness for their brands.
The athlete first inked a deal with NIVEA Men and although the details of the contract were not made public, it is said to be very lucrative. Zungu’s fame also attracted the attention of another top-notch brand, Nike, where he serves as a Global Ambassador. Just like the NIVEA Men deal, the fine lines of his Nike contract are equally not known. Nevertheless, the brands he has endorsed so far are the big shots and will definitely pay him handsomely for his efforts.
Profiling Bongani Zungu’s Football Career
The sum of $4 Million as anybody’s net worth is quite huge but we must have to acknowledge the fact that Bongani Zungu started building his fortune early in life. His starting point was the youth club Dynamos where he spent two years before making it to senior cadre and playing for the University of Pretoria’s football team.
University of Pretoria coach, Steve Barker, noticed his exceptional prowess at the midfield position and convinced him to join the team (AmaTuks) in 2013 when they were just playing their first season in the PSL. While he was busy displaying excellent midfielder action with AmaTuks, other coaches were watching and it resulted in his move to Mamelodi Sundowns which was then reputed as a career-suicide club. Thus, deciding on whether to move or not was a tough one for the SA native. However, a timely visit from coach Pitso stirred his sympathy for the club as it was in dire need of good players to take it out of the doldrums. The South African soccer player turned a deaf ear to peoples’ advice and followed Piston, needless to say, it all turned out good as Bongani Zungu joined forces with great footballers like Khama Billiat to harness his prowess in the midfield and bring remarkable changes to the club.
His Escapades With European Clubs
Beyond his home country South Africa, Bongani has played his way to foreign clubs. Zungu’s time with Mamelodi Sundowns opened inroads into greater opportunities in Europe as he moved to Vitória Guimarães in Portugal. After one year with the team, the midfielder moved to France to join Ligue 1 side Amiens SC. The club later loaned the South African footballer to Scottish club Rangers in October 2020. With time, Rangers got an option to go ahead and sign Zungu permanently for a transfer fee of £2.7 million. He has since become a permanent player for the Scottish club.
The Lavish Lifestyle Bongani Zungu’s Wealth Affords Him
With a net of $4 million, it goes without saying that the South African midfielder will favor the lavish life and Zungu did not disappoint. The footballer is only carrying on the tradition inherent among sportsmen who are known to live a luxurious lifestyle outside their field of play. He is said to own some really plush houses and his garage is teeming with some of the best automobile brands you can think of.
The Footballer Was A Homeowner By 23 Years Old
According to what we gathered from available records, Bongani Zungu promised his late father who passed away in 2013 that he would take care of his mum and he made good on that promise. The footballer turned 23 in 2016, the year he built and furnished a house for his mother. This happened during his days with the Mamelodi Sundowns and was just the beginning of bigger things to come.
The SA football star himself lives in Kempton Park, Johannesburg. In 2018, he almost lost his home as he defaulted on making payments for the house. Revelations from court papers show that he took out a loan facility totaling R1.2 million in order to be able to purchase the property. The agreement stated a monthly repayment of R15,000 but Zungu defaulted for up to 12 months. This prompted the bank to make several attempts to contact him (over 20 text messages and 36 calls were made) to no avail.
Following his silence on the issue, the bank had no choice but to file a lawsuit against him. The midfielder later cleared the air after the bank’s lawyer contacted him. In addition to clearing up his debt, Zungu explained that the default was caused by confusion and misinformation.
Zungu Has A Number Of Luxurious Cars In His Fleet
If great taste were to be measured by the quality of automobiles in a person’s garage, we would say that Bongani Zungu’s taste is impeccable. Though we cannot know the actual number of cars he has acquired thus far, the South African midfielder’s garage is festooned with luxury cars in their numbers.
1. Maserati Ghibli
One of Bongani Zungu’s latest car acquisitions is the state-of-the-art Maserati Ghibli which according to the midfielder, has always been his dream. He finally realized this dream during the 2020 off-season when he came down to his home country to take a break. The car, which was purchased from InspectaCar Gezina, is valued at R1 million and comes with head-turning looks. More than that, it is said to have an incredible on-the-road performance.
Fans got wind of Zungu’s latest purchase via an Instagram post where the midfielder was spotted picking up the automobile at InspectaCar Gezina. The post immediately attracted waves of congratulatory messages.
The four-seater sedan is a 202kw vehicle sporting a 3.0 turbo diesel engine that can perform wonders on the road. Within a mere 6.3 seconds, it can achieve 100km/h, however, its overall top-speed is pegged at 250km. The interior of this plush vehicle is made of elegant leather finishing offering ultimate luxury. The automobile is clearly a cut above its equals with these under-listed features;
- A 3.0 turbo diesel engine
- Overall top speed up to 250km.
- Max power up to 275 HP
- Max speed up to 250 km/h
- Acceleration 6.3 sec
2. BMW M4
Perhaps the most expensive ride in Bongani Zungu’s fleet is his BMW M4 which has an estimated market value of R1.3 million. According to reports, this car is his most cherished ride. Painted in ash color, the wheels come with
- A 3.0-liter BMW M TwinPower Turbo 473-hp inline 6-cylinder engine.
- A 6-speed manual transmission
- Max Horsepower @ RPM 503 @ 6250
- Max Torque @ RPM 479 @ 2750
3. Audi A3 Sedan
Bongani’s Audi A3 may not be as expensive as the aforementioned two as it has a market price of R450,000. However, it is a fast and fun automobile to splurge around town in. The car joined his fleet in 2019 after the midfielder came back from AFCON with the Bafana Bafana following their defeat in the quarter-finals. Rather than staying gloomy about their loss, the soccer player decided to spoil himself with this R450K worth sedan.
Sporting a 2.0-liter engine, the Audi comes with similar striking attributes as many of its more expensive competition. The attributes are listed below;
- Inline 3-cylinder engine
- Top speed in km/h (i.e mph) of 210 (130.5)
- Acceleration, 0-100 k per hour (0-62.1 mph) in sec 10.6
- Combined petrol consumption in l/100 km- 5.0 – 3.6
4. Range Rover Velar
Bongani Zungu’s fleet has another expensive vehicle in the form of a Range Rover Velar. According to the records, the Bafana Bafana star had to dish out a total of R940,000 to fund the purchase of this car. Its distinguishing features include:
- Maximum speed km per hour (mph)- 210 (130)
- Acceleration (secs) 0-100 km per hour (0-60mph)- 8,2 (7,7)
- Maximum power (PS/kW/rpm)- 204/150/4.250
- Maximum torque (Nm/lb-ft/rpm)- 430/317/1.750 – 2.500
- Transmission- Automatic.
5. VW Golf VII GTi
The remarkable midfielder started building his fleet with his red VW Golf VII GTi. The car is said to be quite common among SA football players.
6. Grand Cherokee SRT
Many South African soccer players also have the Grand Cherokee SRT in their garages. Other footballers who have been spotted splurging arround town in this fast SUV are Tokelo Rantie and Andile Jali. The automobile, which is sold for R1 million, has these features;
- Powerful Hemi V-8
- Aggressive exterior styling
- More practicality compared to a sports sedan or a muscle car
7. Mercedes-Benz CLA
Though Zungu bought his R1 million worth Maserati Ghibli in 2020, the Bafana Bafana star still added another expensive car to his garage in 2021. This time around, it is a Mercedes-Benz CLA. This car may be his latest today, but going by the manner in which Zungu acquires cars, another may take its place before long.
