SWAKOPMUND – Unlike many of his peers who have fallen on bad times upon retiring from playing competitive football not exactly knowing where their next meal is going to come from – retired Orlando Pirates left winger, one Benjamin “Kleintjie” Gaseb, has exchanged his togs for hospitality business.
Wellknown for his venomous long range pile drivers via his delicious left foot, the gentle is nowadays the proud owner of Villa Rosa Guest House establishment in the modest residential area of Tamariskia, in Swakopmund.
One of only four Namibians to earn “Springbok” colours in the football discipline alongside the late Dale Stephanus, Hasso Ahrens and Gunter Hellinghausen – Gaseb was a darling (blue-eyed boy) amongst the usually hard-to-please Ghosts’ followers.
He joined the Buccaneers from unfashionable Khorixas outfit Robber Chanties FC in the mid 80’s where he was to form a telepathic partnership with dribbling wizard, the late football genius Norries Goraseb.
Back in the day, Gaseb instilled fear in many a goalkeeper with his serial canon like shots from range that left many shot stoppers with fractured fingers.
A gentleman on and off the field, the gentle giant or ‘Smiling Assassin” was not only admired by the Pirates fans he was adored by many a neutral football fan including supporters from the opposition.
Such was his enormous impact on the football pitch that he was nicknamed “Ongombo” (goat) by African Stars followers. The name was derived from his selection into the Springbok Invitational Eleven during the annual South African Provincial Curie Cup.
Nowadays a devoted churchgoer and part time communal farmer, Gaseb urged fellow retired athletes to venture into business in order to supplement their monthly old age grant from the government if they were to become self sustainable.
“Communal farming is quite a risky investment, because the livestock have the habit of going astray at any given time and given the precarious drought epidemic – one should look for other alternatives to keep one’s head above water,” explained Gaseb.