Central to the unsurpassed success of Namibia’s most successful football club Black Africa, former versatile
striker-cum-midfielder- turned defender, one Bethuel “Five” Hochobeb, played a pivotal role in the fortunes of
this great club both on and off the field. Born in Windhoek’s Old Location in 1952, the third of nine siblings,
(seven boys and two girls), young Five started his schooling at the Betel, St Barnabas and the Roma Catholic
Mission primary schools in the Old Location. He found himself locked up in the remote town of Usakos in the
Erongo Region where he continued with his schooling before he moved to the St Joseph’s School (‘) north-east of
Namibia’s commercial city Windhoek. It was here at Dobra where he would establish himself as a much
sought-after athlete after he joined forces with a small school team going by the name of Black Magic FC.
Among some of his new teammates were; Hotos Damaseb, Barry Mwefi, Pius “Garrincha” Eigowab also known as
Pele among his peers and overlapping fullback Joseph “Malaka” Somseb. He relocated to Odendaal Farm near
Khorixas with his parents where he was to begin a new life as a seven-yearold and barely out of his pair of shorts during the forced removal in 1959. Like many boys his age, Five started out in the school’s second
strings where he was to rub shoulders with the likes of Oscar “Silver Fox” Mengo, but soon graduated to the starstudded school’s first team where he formed a dangerous partnership with the equally lethal
Hans brothers Meester Willem, Johannes and Hans. “In all honesty, the competition for starting berths was very tough but make no mistake we had a very good squad with players like Ben Kauejao, Pius Eigowab, Hotos Damaseb, Steve Stephanus, Willy Katire, Hassie Mingeri, Vossie van Wyk, Gabes Dausab and Malaka Somseb,” recalls Five.
His near faultless performance for the school team did not go unnoticed, as he caught the eye of talent scouts from BA,’ who wasted little time in persuading the stocky striker to join their stable. His arrival at the Gemengde outfit coincided with his expulsion from school following the school’s unrest over vehement calls to abolish
the Bantu education system. Five, a ringleader of the school’s boycott, together with other perceived “troublemakers”
were given marching orders by the education authorities in 1972. He made his presence felt with Black Africa in
1974 when he, alongside Pius Eogowab, Hassie Mingeri, Anton ‘Stouter” Ochurub, steered the club to the final of the first every knockout tournament carrying a significant amount of prize money, N$1 000. A f t e r m a r at h o n
matches, BA swept their opponents aside to set up a date with fellow Katutura giants African Stars at the packed to rafters Katutura stadium on a cold Sunday afternoon. With the slippery Five leading the attack, the Gemengde outfit were clear favourites to clinch top honours but it was Stars who stunned the thousands of enthusiastic fans by taking a two-goal cushion going into the change courtesy of goals by Bush Menjengua and the late Ben Kauejao’s
bullet like header – beating Hubert Mootseng hands down in BA’s goal. Shortly after the in- Five Hochobeb, the unsung hero of Namibian football terval, Five reduced the deficit before Eigowab brought the teams on equal terms with a trademark leveller (2-2). Just as the match was destined for extra time with the dreaded penalty
shootout looming – up popped an unknown small-framed afro-haired youngster going by the name of Albert-Karumbu Kahiha, a protégé of Hochobeb from Dobra. Karumbu unleashed a canon-like right footer from range that left Mootseng catching flies to give the resolute Stars an unlikely victory in the historic match that ultimately
paved the way for the inevitable introduction of prize monies in knockout tournaments. Despite the disappointment
of finishing runner up, Five went on to achieve several accolades with Black Africa and was part and parcel
of the all-conquering Black Africa outfit that clinched back to back Mainstay Cup triumphs – defeating Chelsea on
both occasions in 1982 and 1983. Five was a silver medallist in the same competition when BA lost to bitter rivals Orlando Pirates via Eric Muinjo’s lone strike in the 1978 final. Nevertheless, he managed to lay his hands on
the prestigious Windhoek Lager NFA Cup during inaugural edition in 1990 at the expense of eternal rivals Orlando
Pirates before he hung up his togs for good. His impressive resume in domestic football included representing the
strong Central Invitational Eleven against the visiting South African professional side Morroka Swallows where he
finished on the winning side as the locals saw off their South African counterparts 2-1. He further tested
international football when BA toured Botswana and South Africa for exhibition matches against Township Rollers,
Notwane and Paballelo Chiefs (Upington). Five steered BA to victory in the somewhat unpopular DTA Cup,
which the team entered with mixed feelings with chairman Dan Tjongarero unwilling to be associated
with the venture. As widely expected, there was no celebration after the victory and the trophy ended up somewhere at one of the players’ lodging, as Tjongarero pointblankly refused to have it displayed in the club’s laden trophy cabinet, which was stationed at his residence. A true legend in the real sense of the word, Five was a valuable
member of the first-ever democratically elected Namibia Football Association (NFA) executive after the country gained recognition from the world’s football governing body FIFA in 1990.