Over a decade before Margaret Thatcher occupied No.10 Downing Street in London, South Africa already had its own Iron Lady. That’s the title Moipone Moorosi earned during the rough and tumble years of what later became South African professional football.
Moorosi holds an unusual distinction in this regard as the only woman ever to have scored a goal for the mighty Orlando Pirates side. This was back in the 1960s when Diego Maradona’s Hand of God was still a remote possibility.
The incident occurred during a South African Soccer League (SASL) game against Alexandra Real Fighters. The match was played at a packed Bantu Sports Grounds in Johannesburg. Remarkably, Moorosi achieved this singular feat as a touchline spectator.
A goal-bound shot by one of the Buccaneers’ forwards, Jafta “Inch” Gwamanda, was going off target. The plucky die-hard supporter went for the straying ball and audaciously changed its course as she palmed it past the bemused opposition goalie, Stanley Morapedi. Incredibly, the referee pointed at the centre spot to signal a goal. The Ghost erupted in wild jubilation.
This week the granny and mother of two from Orlando West confirmed the incident matter-of-factly as if it was the most natural thing to do at the time. “It was a tough match. All I can say is that my involvement in that game helped us to beat them. My action was definitely unconventional and certainly not allowed in the referee’s rule book. So I was surprised when he ruled it a goal. It was incredible. The protests by players and fans of Real Fighters didn’t help.”
What she wouldn’t confirm, however, is the prominent narrative that she once slapped a match official because she didn’t agree with his decision that caused her club the game.
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Mme Moipone, 77, as she’s fondly known, was born into a family of staunch Orlando Pirates supporters in the Soweto neighbourhood that gave birth to the country’s oldest club in the premier league. Her father, Robert Setlogelo, owned a truck that used to ferry players and supporters to the games.
The club had been in existence for hardly six years when she was born in 1943 in Orlando East. It was wartime in Europe and one player’s nickname reflected that dark chapter in history – a deadly striker named James “Hitler” Sobi. He features prominently in Mme Moipone’s recollections of those early years.
“Hitler was the club’s most powerful goalscorer. Goalkeepers feared him as he packed deadly shots in both legs. As supporters we loved all the players but reserved a special place in our hearts for Hitle,” she says.
According to Mme Moipone, she and striker Alfred “Russia” Jacobs were the ones who insisted that a 15-year-old Ephraim “Jomo” Sono be drafted into the senior side while others felt that he was still very young to shoulder the responsibility of a senior player. But their word prevailed and they also convinced management that the illustrious number 10 jersey – at the time donned by midfielder, Herman “Man O’ Man” Leroke, belonged to the young dribbling wizard. It was made famous by Percy “Chippa” Moloi.
In this patriarchal world, Moorosi belonged to an influential lobby of women supporters who were in fact decision-makers. They were called the "Magnificent Seven" after a famous 1960 western film of the same name. Within the Orlando Pirates hierarchy, Girly Mashego, Alice Phahlane, Elizabeth Moorosi (sister-in-law), Jacobeth Simelane, Lydia Mali and Margaret Setlogelo – sister and chairperson – were the power behind the throne.
Sadly, she’s the only survivor from this group the media of the day dubbed “the apron government”. They were originally organised by a senior supporter named Betty Nkosi when they were still starry-eyed youngsters in the early years of the club.
Mme Moorosi fondly remembers late club chairman Washington “DC” Mposula as the official who truly recognised the role and responsibilities of women members in the club hierarchy. “Under his administration we became part of the club’s disciplinary committee and therefore involved in the team’s important affairs.”
Unfortunately, Mposula was at the helm when the club was experiencing management problems as a result of power struggles. This state of affairs culminated in Mposula’s assassination in 1976. His killers were never identified.
The power and authority of the Magnificent Seven had become apparent even during the tenure of Mposula’s predecessor, Mike Tseka. In 1969, club manager Ewert “The Lip” Nene, players Thomas “Zero My Hero” Johnson, Ratha “Greaves” Mokgoatlheng and Edward “Msomi” Khoza walked out of a Pirates meeting that was evidently emotionally charged.
They were facially bruised and spotted other injuries on their bodies. During a meeting at the YMCA Hall that was attended by Mme Moipone and other members of the Magnificent Seven, the three-star players were told that they have been expelled for insubordination.
During the holiday season they had played in unauthorised friendly games that involved amateur clubs. When Nene tried to speak in their defence, he was also told that he was fired.
An argument ensued and the four gentlemen were assaulted. At least that’s the popular narrative that made headlines in the newspapers at the time. Mme Moipone remembers the events of that day differently. According to her , the three players were plotting a breakaway club with Kaizer Motaung, who was playing for Atlanta Chiefs in the North American Soccer League at the time.
Established in 1937 from a group of schoolboys who were named the Orlando Youth Club, the founders were Bethuel Mokgosinyane and Andries “Pele Pele” Mkhwanazi – self-styled social worker and municipal policeman respectively. Around 1940, Mokgosinyane – the first and only life chairman – bought them their first kit and offered his backyard of house number 4305 as the playground.
Mkhwanazi became the club’s player, captain and coach all rolled in one. He’s also credited with naming them. In the bioscopes it was a time when the pirate genre and films such as The Black Buccaneer (1938), The Daughter of the Green Pirate (1940) and Errol Flynn’s The Sea Hawk (1940) were very popular.
They played in the second division under the Johannesburg Bantu Football Association’s Saturday League and were subsequently promoted to the first division in 1939.
Some of the coveted trophies of the time that they lifted included the Transvaal Challenge Cup Final, Baloyi Cup Final and Robor Shield. For four consecutive seasons they won the SA Robertsons Cup, at the time the country’s top knockout competition.
They beat Moroka Swallows 9-0 during their first derby in 1948. And they still hold the record for having won all championship honours in one season – 1973. At the time black teams had no access to stadiums in their areas and used municipal-owned facilities in town for their matches.
George Goch, Bantu Sports Ground and Wemmer were the football meccas of those days but they were distant venues at the time when transport to town was rare.
Enter James Sofasonke Mpanza, a fearless community leader who campaigned for the occupation of municipal lands with messianic zeal. His efforts bore some fruits for the post-war squatter movement as the city council decided to concede some land for the new arrivals that lived in hessian sacks – Masakeng – around Orlando. This significant development eventually led to the erection of Orlando Stadium by the city council and its opening in 1959.
It was against this background that the Zulu praise for the club was born: Ezimnyama ngenkani ezika Magebhula ezagebhula umhlaba ka masipala. It roughly translates as, “the wilfully black ones of Magebhula who invaded the land of the municipality”. The 1960s ushered in the era of the gregarious and flamboyant club officials – shebeen kings and taxi owners who flashed their wallets to manipulate power relations within the club hierarchy. Mme Moipone recalls in the early 1960s when she was one of those who lobbied for chairman David Motsamai to leave the club after a disagreement over league affiliation.
Uncle Day, as the flamboyant bootlegger was fondly known, got his marching orders but cost the club dearly when he left with some of the star players to form Black Pirates. It was left to star player and captain Eric “Scara” Sono to rebuild the team with a combination of old and new blood that included 16-year-old Kaizer “Chincha Guluva” Motaung, Percy “Chippa” Moloi, William “King Kaizer Matatazela” Mkhwanazi, Jerry “Black Sash” Mazibuko, Thomas “Zero” Johnson, Ratha “Greaves” Mokgoatlheng, the Khoza twins – Gabriel “Tikkie” and Abram “Mainline” as well as goalkeepers Skhehla Mncube and Mandy “Mannie” Davids, the first coloured player to join the club and wore the captain’s armband after Sono’s death in 1964 during a car accident.
According to Mme Moipone, the inspirational goal poacher’s passing was one of the worst blows in the club’s turbulent history. Immediately after this tragedy Bethuel Morolo, first president of the NPSL, was ordered by the apartheid authorities to expel coloured and Indian players from black clubs. Consequently, Pirates lost five of its finest players – goalkeeper Gerard “Al Die Hoekies” van der Haar, fullbacks Hans Moses and Ralph “Uil” Hendricks as well as strikers Bernard “Dancing Shoes” Hartze and Rashid “Dynamite” Khan.
Mme Moipone was also at Ellis Park in 1985 when another Pirates official, China Hlongwane, was knifed by three men in full glare of TV cameras.
Her illustrious involvement in the club’s fortunes hasn’t gone unnoticed although she’s no longer actively involved. For instance, in 2011 then sport and recreation minister Fikile Mbalula honoured her and 23 other sport personalities at the inaugural Andrew Mlangeni Green Jacket Night of Legends Awards.
This year the Iron Duke himself personally visited the Iron Lady to present her with the club’s newly unveiled orange kit, a gesture she regards as the chairman’s token of appreciation for her lifetime support. Her son, Thabiso Moorosi, is planning to launch a foundation in her honour. .
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