Go well ‘Bro Tso’
The name ‘Tsotsie’ is enough to send shivers running riot in the bellies of hardened criminals, including the notorious staunch Ghosts’ supporter-cum-habitualjailbird /Ai-gams, aka ‘Ou Windhoek’.
The definition of ‘Tsotsie’, accordingtotheOxfordDictionary, is a South African boy, capable of producing a sharp object (Okapi) in township slang, at the slightest provocation. Contrary to his nickname, ‘Tsotsie’, also famously going by the name of ‘Tostao’, named after Brazilian football legend and World cup winner Eduardo Goncalves de Andrade, generally known as Tostao, was by no means a troublemaker or knife carrier.
‘Tsotsie’ started playing football with a tennis ball in the highly competitive popular three A-side after school games at the Katutura Central Big Shops. Young boys from the adjacent Rhenisch Nama and St Barnabas Senior Primary Schools would converge at the compact makeshift indoor STOEP, sandwiched between Paulus/ Dawid Cafe and uncle Kaputara’s grocery outlet to showcase their God-given talents.
The likes of Willem Eichab, Pedro Brown, Vaaitjie Aperpo, Oscar Mengo, Bush Menjengua, Ben Kauejao, Rudolf Noariseb, Haimbili Nicodemus, Topsen Afrikaner and Ben Molatzi all hone their football skills at the Central Big Shops STOEP. The winning team remained on court.
Eish... there was also some sort of potentially dangerous
unwanted exposure to be savaged by a pair of pit bulls, jealously guarding the backyard of Paulus’ Cafe. The boys risked their life by jumping over the high wall to collect stray balls. Nonetheless, the streetwise boys always managed to wangle their way around the unsuspecting dogs. Replacing ageing club stalwart, the late Mathews ‘Ou Growes’ Namaseb, was certainly not going to be an easy task but ‘Tsotsie’, unlike the man he succeeded, was not just an equally fearless hard tackler; he could play a bit of decent football. ‘Tsotsie’ was in the starting lineup on both occasions when the Buccaneers won backto-back Mainstay Cup titles – only to be denied by a racially motivated boardroom decision in the 1979 edition. Sadly, persistent career ending knee injuries put him to an otherwise flawless football career. ‘Bro Tso’ died at the Katutura State Hospital after losing a marathon battle against long illness. May his soul rest in eternal peace in one piece!