It is often said that journalists, the public at large and especially Ministers of Sports and Culture in South Africa enjoy singing praises and showering sports stars and musicians with accolades only after they have departed this world eternally.
A verdict is then made by some people that such praises and accolades won’t serve any purpose, this as the person to whom they are directed won’t hear even a single one of those wonderful words as their souls would no longer be in this world.
Now to avoid the aforesaid criticism, let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to Mr Lucas “Masterpieces” Moripe, who is not only a football icon but a living legend. Different people know him by various nicknames which he acquired in his illustrious football career.
Some call him Ada, others call him Soweto, yet others call him Master or Masterpieces.
But this is not the end of his many nicknames because to other people he is known as Mecro and Modimo wa Bolo, and the latter nickname translates to “the god of football.”
But the dribbling wizard was actually born Lucas Senyana Moripe on 5 February 1950 in Atteridgeville.
Needless to say, the Super Stadium football stadium has now been renamed Lucas Mecro Masterpieces Moripe after him.
That’s the venue where Masterpieces enthralled football- loving fans with his nuggetty, unmatchable skills in the late 1960’s, 1970’s until 1980, when his team Pretoria Callies was relegated at the end of that foitball season.
Moripe then joined Orlando Pirates for a short stint before retiring from active football.
On the field of play Masterpieces unapologetically displayed wizardry, showmanship, brinkmanship and pure artistry combined, much to the joy of everyone watching him.
And this included fans of opposing teams like Chiefs and Pirates, who would be compelled to swallow their pride, suspend their allegiance to Chiefs or Pirates temporarily, and join Callies fans in laughter and applause after Masterpieces would have out-driblled one of their own players silly.
I must admit that I was too young to see him in action in all matches during his playing days, but I can boldly assert that I saw him playing at least two games; against the then struggling Mamelodi Sundowns which was in the lower Second Division of the National Professional Soccer League at the Muckleneuck grounds in Mamelodi, and also against Kaizer Chiefs at the Super Stadium.
But those who were old enough to follow his career fully still brag that he is still the best player South Africa has ever produced.
It is said that he made fellow football stars like Jomo Sono and Kaizer Motaung look like minnows.
Legend has it that he could out-dribble the opposition defenders and goalkeeper, then stroll with the ball towards the empty net and instead of scoring, he would turn back with the ball, and again out-dribble the selfsame defenders and their helpless goalkeeper before casually and stylishly knocking the ball into the empty net, much to the laughter of everyone watching.
In his prime, Moripe’s teammates were Louis Kiewit and Daniel Mboweni as the team’s two goalkeepers.
That was before the late Sonas Malope took over as Pretoria Callies’ shot stopper.
Then there were the likes of Patrick Dibetla, Abel Pitsi, Harry Nkhotau, Morris Nkwe, Paul Post Mothiba, Geroge Kgobe, Frank Ramashala, the late LTD Molala, the late Toroteya Bantala Shego, Score Vari and Chisa Sibanda.
Masterpieces sadly acknowledges that Calliies didn’t win even a single trophy during its time as a professional team.
He attributes this to the fact that some of the team’s players were not good enough to help the team win titles.
Mecro Moripe started playing soccer seriously for an Atteridgeville-based amateur football team known as Hans Sporting Football Club and joined Pretoria Callies, alias The Romans (Ma-Roma) towards the late 1960’s.
He revealed that besides him, the next best player in the country was his teammate and captain Patrick LTD Molala ( Potjo).
He told Tshwane Talks that after Potjo Molala was arrested for political reasons and sent to Robben Island in 1977, his performance was negatively affected.
The late Molala was a member of the Black Consciousness Movement led by the iconic Steve Biko.
Though South Africa was isolated from the rest of the world in terms of sporting activities due to the apartheid government that was at the helm of this country in the 1970’s, a selection soccer team from Britain came to the country and played against South Africa’s blacks-only only national team called Black 11 separately, and also against a white- only national team called Whites 11.
he selfsame British team also played against a Coloureds-only team called Coloured 11, as well as against an Indians-only team called Indian 11.
Moripe told Tshwane Talks that the game against the said British 11 was one of his best games ever and though Black 11 lost the match 3-2, at the Orlando Stadium in the 1970’s, they as the Black 11 matched the British team pound for pound and taught them a thing or two on the soccer pitch.
Just like many soccer stars of that era in South Africa, Moripe also had a chance to play for overseas-based soccer teams in Hong Kong and Chicago in the United States of America.
He doesn’t hide the fact that he is now a supporter of Mamelodi Sundowns.
Moripe’s biography has been published recently and it is called MASTERPIECES MORIPE MODIMO WA BOLO- SOUTH AFRICAN LEGEND. Let me end this tribute to Moripe by describing the little that I saw of him in his heyday.
Here we go.
It is late in October 1980 in Atteridgeville on a sunny Sunday afternoon with clear blue skies overbearing the vicinity.
The venue is Super Stadium and the occasion is the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) football derby between the home side Pretoria Callies and the visiting, famous Iwisa Kaizer Chiefs, presently known simply as Kaizer Chiefs.
With 15 minutes or so to go before the end of the match, and with the two teams locked at 0-0, Callies’ hard-working midfielder Gerald Chappie Julius plays a flat diagonal ball into the Chiefs’ 18-yard area from the touchline.
Chiefs’ keeper Peta Balac leaves his goal posts to collect a seemingly easy ball.
But Moripe appears suddenly from nowhere in front of Balac and pretends that he is going to touch the ball, but cleverly lets the ball go past him, leaving Balac sprawled on the turf and holding on to Moripe’s feet instead of the ball, while the ball rolls easily to Abel Sono, who stylishly slotted the ball home into the empty net, giving Callies a 1-0 win over Chiefs.
That is the little bit of Moripe’s genius that I saw.