Th at’s h ow Imanage

Juggle education with football and, after passing his LLB degree, has qualified as a lawyer in his home country. In this interview, he explains to Soccer Laduma’s Thomas Kwenaite why he sacrificed and spent sleepless nights to acquire an educational backg

Thomas Kwenaite: Ronald, first things first. You retired from the Brave Warriors after Egypt 2019. How did coach Collin Benjamin persuade you to come out of retirement?

Ronald Ketjijere: I retired from the Brave Warriors after the 2019 Afcon. At the time, Benjamin was assistant coach to Ricardo Mannetti. Since then, I have been in contact and for the longest period of time we have been talking as he wanted me to continue. He feels that I could add value, that I can assist and we have spoken a lot about it. Finally, it has happened. Basically, it didn’t take much to persuade me. Of course, as a patriot, whenever called upon to defend the country’s honour, you are obliged to avail yourself, so who am I to reject national duty?

TK: We understand you had to withdraw from the squad that faced Bafana Bafana in a friendly last weekend. Why?

RK:

It was actually not a withdrawal. As you know, I am a lawyer by profession and I had a few matters that were set down to be heard in court for the week in Windhoek. I spoke to the technical team and informed them that hopefully if I learned up the bottleneck in time, I was willing to join them in South Africa. It did not pan out as I wished, but I’m happy they managed to hold Bafana Bafana to a stalemate.

TK: Has Namibian football recovered from that three-year spell where there was no formal activity?

RK:

It has been a long time since football has not been played in Namibia. So, it has been three years since football came back and we are still active but not yet where we want football to be. This stop-start, stop-start always takes our football a few steps back, but we are happy that football is back in full swing. We are also satisfied that Namibia has both the talent and the political will to succeed. I think we could be competing with the very best in Africa if we could get our house in order. But you see, we still managed to qualify for a few major global tournaments even without domestic activity in the country. In reality, football has recovered, but like I say, it is not yet where we would like it to be.

TK: How much did this inactivity affect individual footballers?

RK:

The inactivity affected football severely. You know, to some, football is their only livelihood, so without football, it means there is no bread on the table, there is no food for the family, there is no money to take kids to school, there is no money to support girlfriends or family members. It took a serious toll on the lives of the players. I know of some that starved during that period. I also know of others that resorted to washing cars just to make ends meet. It was a terrible period for footballers in Namibia, but we are grateful that football is back.

TK: How much changes have since been implemented after football was normalised?

RK:

Not much, to be honest. Elections were held and (a) new committee (was) installed, and a semblance of normalcy returned. But you know football is struggling due to the stopstart and unending football politics and consequently corporates do not want to come into such an unstable football environment because of their (football administrators) politics. Every time football has to stop because of some or other reasons, the corporates are not so comfortable.

TK: Did corporates also withdraw from Namibian football or they stayed loyal to football throughout?

RK:

Most of the business corporates have pulled out. We had a Namibia Telecommunications Company (MTC) that sponsored football for the past few years, but they have since withdrawn. Fortunately, we had DebMarine that sponsored the league, but of course the money was not sufficient. So, though I do not want to bring football politics into the sport, the truth is

midfield enforcer par excellence, Ronald Ketjijere gained a fearsome reputation as a hard, tough-as-nails anchorman who never allowed free passage down the middle that would leave his defenders exposed. Pretoria University were known as hard nuts to crack largely because of the stubborn refusal of the Namibian international to back down. He is one of a select few that somehow managed to

that these stop-start issues are what is driving corporates away because of the negativity that it brings to the game. So, it is a huge challenge in Namibia.

TK: It is still remarkable to some people how the Brave Warriors qualified for Afcon 2019 when there was no formal football played in the country!

RK:

Football was played in dribs and drabs during 2018 and that’s the time when we played most of the qualifying games. I think that (playing a few games) accounted for something. But football stopped again after that when the national team qualified. I don’t think there was enough football played, but as I said, we have enough talent in Namibia. We just need to nurture it and put proper structures and resources in place. Then the infrastructure… Because most of the youth in Namibia make their living through sport with the talent that they have, but it’s unfortunate that we find ourselves in this kind of predicament. Having not enough resources and poor infrastructure, on reflection I think the government has failed the youth as far as sport is concerned, not only in football. You know South Africa has invested a lot of money in infrastructure development, but sadly Namibia does not do the same.

TK: How do you manage the balancing act of being a footballer and a lawyer?

RK:

Football here is not played on a professional basis like it is the case in South Africa or elsewhere. It is not even semi-professional, it is still played on an amateur basis. We go to work during the day and only go to training after 17h00. It is only a few clubs that train in the morning and in the afternoon. But at the club where I am playing, African Stars, we normally train in the afternoon. That is how I manage. In the morning, I go to my office as a full-time lawyer and work until 16h30. Then I drive to training. But football is a bit of an escape route for me, especially with law work, the pressure. So, I think that’s how I am able to balance it. Sometimes it gets hectic, but as a lawyer, you sometimes stay up until late. Sometimes you sleep for a few hours only and, of course, sometimes I find myself in a predicament, but generally it has worked well for me. I don’t complain. My bosses in the office have not yet complained and my coaches in football have also not yet complained.

TK: Do you specialise in a particular field as a lawyer by day?

RK:

As a lawyer here in Namibia in our jurisdiction, I do civil law and I also do civil litigation. I have been part of the Detons Brockerhoff attorneys for the past five years and now I’ve moved to private practice. I am a broker for Detons – it used to be Brockerhoff and Associates and it has since formed a partnership with Detons. This is a worldwide law firm, so of course, we do not necessarily specialise, but I do a lot of regular applications, evictions, procurement laws, divorce and contract laws. I am a court-going lawyer, that’s where there is no speciality in a specific field in law. But I like criminal law.

TK: Have you ever been approached by any professional or amateur player asking you to represent him?

RK:

have never been approached by any football player, amateur or professional, requesting me to represent them against a particular club. Strange as it may sound, but yeah, that’s the gospel truth – nobody has approached me yet in that respect.

TK: Few people are aware that when you played for University of Pretoria, you successfully juggled your studies with football.

RK:

When I played for Tuks, there was no specific arrangement. I was only doing arrangements when my classes or tests were clashing with football assignments and, of course, Tuks being one of the top universities in South Africa, that pay special attention to sports, they never had difficulty in rescheduling my tests. But besides that, classes continued as normal. If I missed classes, I always took notes from my classmates. It was a professional set-up at a very professional football club. Tuks were paying my salary and I seldom missed classes nor training sessions. But I always made arrangements in advance to give everybody the heads-up. That’s how I managed to juggle my busy schedule and I think it was a worthwhile journey.

TK: How do you inspire young footballers?

RK:

I have inspired a lot of young people from different walks of life. I get texted by strange people, especially young lads who are also footballers and who are starting at different universities, wondering how I managed and achieved success playing professional football? I always tell them that it was all about time management and the commitment, sleepless nights, the early mornings, the late nights, but it’s doable. I encourage them never to abandon their studies, especially with regard to the level of football in Namibia. The level of remuneration, the income that one would take home in Namibia is not something that could sustain them. So, I tell them only a few of us are lucky to have secured proper contracts in South Africa or elsewhere, but the game of football is very cruel and once you do not have formal education to fall back on, especially in countries like Namibia, it becomes very challenging. I always encourage them to stay focused and pay attention to their studies. I took education seriously. There are others like me with tertiary education, others became doctors, teachers and some are respected members of society. That’s how they moved on after football. I talk to them never to abandon education.

TK: Do you still keep in touch with Tuks?

RK:

Not necessarily with Tuks per se, but am constantly in touch with Tebogo Monyai, who is my former captain. We became very good friends during my time in South Africa, so I’m always talking to him and if any youngster comes along, I always recommend them to him. I see now there is a young goalkeeper from Namibia with them, Edward Maova, who is their first choice. Not that he went through me, but I think (it’s) because as a Namibian I played there and he (Monyai) is always providing me with positive feedback whenever people at Tuks talk about me. So, of course, I speak to Monyai more than the officials on the ground. I understand Tebogo is chief scout, but I haven’t had an opportunity to send through any of the youngsters.

TK: Do you also still follow local football and how do you feel watching Peter Shalulile terrorising local defenders?

RK:

I do follow PSL games and I watch them closely. In fact, I watch more PSL games than I do European football. Of course, seeing “Sha-Sha” doing his thing is amazing. You know, seeing a young lad from Namibia excelling in a foreign country is always great. Seeing him doing great and knowing where he is coming from, where his football journey started, I’m lost for words. The young man has done well, way beyond everyone’s expectations because Shalulile started as a left back and so nobody expected him to be the lethal striker that he has become.

Strangely, I

TK: There’s also Deon Hotto at Orlando Pirates and Riaan Hanamub at AmaZulu FC, among others…

RK:

COURT-GOING “I AM A WHERE THAT’S LAWYER, SPECIALITY NO THERE IS FIELD SPECIFIC IN A BUT I LIKE IN LAW. LAW. CRIMINAL

What talents! Top players. In Namibia, Riaan is a top player and AmaZulu consider him as a valuable asset, a standout performer. By the way, all of these guys I played with at the national team. They have been doing well for their respective clubs, and I am very proud. As teammates, we were in the PSL, but they have made huge impacts, they are representing Namibia with pride. They must continue flying the Namibian flag.

TK: Do they sometimes call on you for advice?

RK:

Yeah, Sha-Sha used to call me and that was at the time when I was in the PSL and he was still playing locally for Tura Magic in Namibia. He was inspired and already seeing himself playing in the PSL, always asking about players in the PSL, how did I manage to play with these guys? But eventually he made it. He surprisingly went ahead and has done well for the country and for himself. He keeps on collecting individual accolades in the PSL, it’s amazing. I used to speak to Hanamub as well. But at the rate they have been going, they need no more advice at this point but are the ones that need to give out advice.

It was a pleasure, Bra TK.