Hlungwani well known for having discipline and tenacity on and off the pitch, started his journey as a referee when he was 15 years old at a football club meeting in Giyani.

He then progressed through the SAFA Giyani Football Association structures until he got promoted to the NFD (MTN league) in 1999/2000 and then the rest is history.

We recently had a chat with Hlungwani and here's what he had to say:

"Everything started in 1991 when I was 15 years old, my team back home in Giyani, KYD FC was requested to submit a name of a referee to officiate one of the matches and no one was ready to volunteer,

I then put my hand up to volunteer and they all laughed at me because during those days referees used to be beaten and I was very young, being the only one who put his hand up, no one volunteered for the job so they were left with no choice but to take me,

At that time I was still at Giyani High School and my biggest advantage was that I was very fluent in English so I understood the rules of being a referee very quickly and that is how the journey began,

While officiating several matches during the weekends in Giyani, in 1995 I got enrolled as a first year student at the Tivumbeni College of Education and went on to complete my studies, so I am also a teacher by profession but honestly speaking my passion was more focused on being a professional soccer referee."

"Because of the dedication I had for the job as young as I was, it was only a matter of time before I would get recognized and potentially get promoted, so in 1999 I progressed through the SAFA Giyani Football Association structures until I got promoted to the NFD in 2000, then in 2002 the NFD and the Premier League panels were combined to form one national panel and I was a beneficiary of that process,

I made my PSL debut in the 2002/03 season at a Nedbank Cup encounter, officiating a match between Santos and Island FC, I was very excited yet overwhelmed at the same time because that was the moment I had been longing for ever since I started as a 15 year old boy,

The PSL debut also taught me a few things now that I am reflecting on it, in life what you get out will always be determined by what you put in, I believe the reason why my story is a story of success it is because I had already predestined it in my mind from childhood that I would become a success and the work ethic I put in many years ago is now unfolding right in front of my eyes."

"My top three biggest highlights in my journey as a referee was first in 2010 when I was nominated into the FIFA panel to represent SAFA and the country at large at an international level,

Secondly I will always be grateful to the PSL for granting me the opportunity to officiate the MTN 8 final between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in 2011, I have always stated that officiating a Soweto Derby is an honour what more when it is a Soweto Derby in a cup final ? So with the match being a high intensity encounter, that was my biggest highlight in the PSL era,

I have actually officiated 4 Soweto Derby cup finals, the MTN 8 twice and the Telkom Knockout twice too, my third biggest highlight was in 2012 when I went to Brazzaville to referee the Gabon and Brazil encounter in an international friendly,

The reason that match will always be one of my biggest highlights is because I was excited to learn new languages, I got exposed to French, Portuguese and Spanish by virtue of just officiating that mouthwatering encounter,

I had to learn French while I was at the airport to catch the flight to Gabon and the learning continued in the flight as well as it was such a great experience learning a different language,

When I got to the hotel in Gabon I met up with my translator and I got better and better as I communicated with the translator and some of the people in the hotel, funny enough that is how I got the nickname "Principal", because I grasp things easily I quickly understood French and began to teach others in the hotel and that's how the name stayed with me."

"I know all the 11 official languages of South Africa because as a referee you meet different people and get to engage with different players on the pitch that speak different languages so that's 11 in South Africa and abroad I can say French, Portuguese and Spanish because those are the three dominant languages across different countries."

"That's a very good question because normally people particularly the fans of these teams don't understand that we are also humans and we are bound to make mistakes, so one of the biggest challenges is when the fans get to criticize us based on the decisions we make in the field of play,

People need to understand that when we are officiating the match there is no slow motion, everything is live and happens there on the spot, so some of the decisions we make during that moment might not appear to the fans as being correct because the fans would get a replay and slow motion view from the broadcaster while watching and start to criticize us, forgetting that in South Africa we still have no V.A.R to consult regarding certain decisions of the match,

Secondly the issue around making mistakes as referees is something the fans will never understand, well unfortunately that is reality we also make mistakes and sometimes the mistakes might prove to be costly for one of the two teams but these things happen in football,

Lastly one of the challenges is the issue around match-fixing but I always say it will not be a challenge to a referee that knows that integrity, honesty and fairness is what governs the beautiful game of football, I am not going to sit here and say I haven't been approached through bribery, I have and my response is always the same, I tell whoever that has been sent to me offering to bribe me that if you want your team to win then your team should score goals because what wins a football match is goals."

Firstly I would like to commend Daine Klate, Lucky Lekgwathi and Robyn Johannes for always being understanding and keeping a calm spirit whenever I used to caution them or reprimand their tackles and behaviour on the pitch,

Now the most difficult players I have ever faced were Mbulelo Mabizela and Willard Katsande, Katsande as you know he is very aggressive and quick to make a tackle so everytime he would commit a bad tackle he always had a reason as to why he made the tackle, Katsande always had something to say in justification for his actions,

I remember in one of the Soweto Derbies he came running to my ear complaining about a tackle the opposition team had committed to his teammate and said but if it was me Mr Victor you would have immediately given me a yellow card,

With Old John Mabizela it was always a struggle to get him to calm down and stop committing bad fouls especially when his team was losing but one thing I like and also find very hilarious about these players is that after the whistle at 90 minutes when the match is over they would come to the referee and admit their fouls and we would actually have a great chat about it as we head into the tunnel."

"Well let me say the one thing that I now enjoy the most is I get to sleep peacefully, you know before you go through a fitness test ahead of a match, you don't get to sleep the night before the fitness test, so now I enjoy my sleep because there's no fitness test that I have to prepare for, 

I now have time to spend with my children over the weekends because I am mostly at home during the weekends, I cherish family time more now and I am content with the way my life is shaping up,

I have also joined the SABC Sport team and I feature on Soccerzone doing analysis from the referee's point of view regarding the past week/weekend games."

"I currently have two which is Abongile Tom and Luxolo Badi, I believe they are on the right track and with time and patience they will certainly be one of the best in the world following in the footsteps of Victor Gomes and Zakhele Siwela,

It is very sad and unfortunate that we lost Moeketsi Molelekoa, another gentleman whom I knew personally and was already making his mark in the field, may his soul rest in peace."

"Bafana Bafana is and will always be the only team I support, although when I was young I used to support Dynamos and it died so I am now with Bafana Bafana all the way."

"I wouldn't advice anyone who wants to become a referee for the sake of just being a referee to continue because if the passion for the job is not there, the hunger to learn and the will to do are also absent then don't do it,

I appeal to everyone who wants to become a referee to first be self-disciplined and honest because charity begins at home, the reason I am stressing on discipline is because temptations will always arise but with discipline as a referee you can always avoid a situation of temptations to bribery."

Hlungwani who has served in the top-flight football with distinction for 20 years will continue to utilise his wealth of experience to produce the future generation of referees in the country.