Former Chief Santos defender Eslon ‘Don’ Kavindjima, is one of very few footballers who featured for one of the most exciting outfits in the history of domestic football, but for some inexplicable reason never really managed to lay his hands on any noteworthy silverware during a career that spanned almost a decade in the gold and green colours of the Copper Town lads. A true gentleman on and off the field, Don was a one-club man and never exchanged clubs like some footballers of his generation, who hopped from one club to the other in apparent search of glory and fame. However, he sent shockwaves among his childhood peers and conservative close relatives when he chose to join Tsumeb-based Chief Santos FC from Grootfontein outfit Poison Arrows Football Club instead of Red Bees, where the loyalties of the majority of his clansmen and playing personnel were lodged firmly. New Era Sports caught up with the now retired, soft-spoken defender and this is the tale of of his personal sojourn in pursuit of the beautiful game.
TSUMEB – Don began life on the football pitch in his native town of Grootfontein where he played street football in the old location, later to be renamed Omulunga township. The boys played with inflated home-made plastic soccer balls after school or whenever the opportunity arose.
A notable long distance runner, his endurance helped him a great deal on the football field, as he was always tasked to shield his team mates from the danger posed by marauding strikers during the popular stake games in the dusty streets of Omulunga where no quarter was asked or given.
In the intervening years, young Don joined forces with his boyhood buddies to form a competitive football club under the name of Poison Arrows, which consisted of predominantly Otjiherero-speaking young men under the tutorship of Kazekela Kaverua. During the days of segregation, football clubs were formed along tribal lines, but the boys from the Damara section had more than one team and were very competitive. Don teamed up with Papikie Uazukuani, Kalla Kuzatjike, Victor Kutako, Sam Tjihuno, Israel Nganjone, Ben Kazonganga, Bethuel Hanavi, Poriro Upingasana and Curtus Tjizepa to form the backbone of Poison Arrows. “With tribal pride at stake, we were obliged to compete fiercely against strong teams such as Goal Hunters and Hungry Lions, while we featured prominently in several exhibition matches and knockout cup competitions against teams from the maize triangle, Tsumeb, Otavi and Grootfontein,” recalls the humorous Don. Arrows were also regular campaigners in the popular annual knockout cup tournament, which was exclusively for Otjiherero-speaking football clubs hosted by Otjiwarongo-based Life Fighters. The blue and gold striped outfit always gave a good account of themselves in this particular competition, despite having to play second fiddle to established clubs African Stars, Life Fighters and Flames FC. Other regular participants were African Stars (Otavi) Black Beauty Chiefs (Okahandja), Red Fire (Walvis Bay), Scorpions (Omaruru), Red Bees (Tsumeb), Okaondeka Eleven (Okakarara) and Sunshine FC (Gobabis). “Our team became much stronger after we had recruited the highly talented pair of Heinrich Hanavi and Ndanduu Kandingua. We once won a knockout cup tournament on home turf, brushing aside some of the top teams from Grootfontein Otavi and Tsumeb. “People should remember that Grootfontein boasted some of the best footballers in the business in those years as evidenced by the exploits of the dangerous Damaseb siblings Orlando, Pieces and Pele and in later years Steven. We also boasted the unmatched talents of the legendary Doc Hardley and his equally dangerous cousin Eliphas Sabatha, while the Francis brothers Richo and Tiger were absolutely in a class of their own.”
In 1976, Don relocated to Tsumeb after he found employment with giant grocery suppliers, South West United Agency as a merchandiser whereupon he was duly promoted to the position of salesman in later years until his retirement – three years ago. The following year, after weighing up his options, Don joined forces with Chief Santos FC, much to the chagrin and disappointment of his close buddies with some of his disgruntled relatives unjustifiably concluding that they were betrayed saying he betrayed the tradition by joining Santos instead of Red Bees FC. “The reason why I chose Santos, was a purely a football decision based on the advancement of my football career. In Japhet-Listone Hoeseb, also known as ‘Stone’ in football circles, Santos had a visionary leader in their midst who had the ability to instill professionalism and more importantly, discipline among the playing personnel with his unmatched administrative acumen.
“A few years before my arrival, Santos had brought in former South African football legend, the late Percy ‘Chippa’ Moloi, to take the players through their paces and his presence certainly rubbed off positively on the club’s management and players.” Don found himself surrounded by greats such, Archie Ochurub, Celle Auchumeb, Mannetjie Neidel, Kapapi Ochurub, Boetietjie Neidel, Mike Nawaseb, Corrie Uri-Khob and the enterprising Steps Nickel, a crowd favourite who possessed that rare knack to keep crowds on the edge of their seats with his deceiving antics and his dazzling dribbling skills.
His arrival coincided with Santos’ rise to stardom as the Copper Town lads started to dominate football in the northern part of the country, brushing aside their opponents with ease to bring Rangers’ dominance to a premature halt. Generally a midfield anchorman, Don was converted to the right fullback position to replace the out-of-form Kapapi Ochurub in the Santos starting line up. Santos went on to claim the scalps of many of their opponents on the way to winning few knockout cup competitions in the maize triangle, until the inevitable arrival of Chelsea Football Club from Grootfontein. “Although my primary position was midfield with sporadic roles as a centre back, I must confess that I really enjoyed my new role at right back. “If the ball goes past me, the player must hit the ground,” was my motto, “but that does not mean that I went out to deliberately injure fellow players.” Despite his consistency and rock steady defending in the Santos rearguard, Don never managed to break into the northern regional squad for ultimate selection to the provincial South West Africa Invitation XI despite having been called up for trials on two different occasions.
Although Don has fond memories of his playing days with Santos FC, he is still bitter and disappointed that he has never managed to win any major tournaments with his beloved Santos, despite a successful football career that saw Santos become the toast of any neutral football follower across the length and breadth of the country. “I enjoyed my football playing for Santos and the emergence of youngsters such as the late pair of Dr Pele Damaseb, Crooks Casper and Hannes Louw, doubtlessly brought a new dimension to our game. Those boys were extremely dangerous and in their day, very few defenders could handle them and they could destroy any opposition. “Our team reached the semifinals of many knockout tournaments but to be honest, the Windhoek-based teams were very strong and that always left us to pick up the pieces for the consolation second and third places. “Nevertheless, there were few unforgettable matches where we matched our much fancied opponents pound for pound. We gave them a decent run for their money and I will never forget our semifinal clash against Orlando Pirates in Windhoek, where I played a blinder but as fate would have it, I collided with my team mate Jerry ‘Magobetzy’ Tjizoo and suffered a career-threatening knee injury.” Don was in the starting lineup when Santos made history by becoming the first black football club to feature in an officially sanctioned exhibition match against a white club. “We came up against Ramblers and lost 3-1 in Windhoek, but it was indeed a good learning curve for us. In those days, teams had decent support structures at their disposal strengthened by the presence of second teams – serving as feeders for the first team, while fringe players and those regulars returning from injury could also make use of the platform to recuperate. The competition for starting berths was extremely tough and players had to train hard and maintain consistency in order to be selected.” Don is not exactly impressed with the standard of local football and says todays footballers are hopelessly too small in physique whereas in his playing days, the players were strongly built and more committed to the task at hand. “I have lost interest in watching domestic football as a result of the poor quality stuff dished out by the current crop of footballers. To tell you the truth, the last time I enjoyed watching a football match was when the likes of Gerros Uri-Khob, Puli Subeb and Marcellus Witbeen were still active. I will always cherish our battles with African Stars, they were quite a tough nut to crack in many of our countless encounters. In our generation, we had great footballers who possessed that rare ability to win matches with one moment of individual brilliance and this is where the names of Dale Stephanus, Celle Ochurub, Nangi Nickel and Poriro Upingasana come to mind.
By Carlos Kambaekwa