2016-08-12Staff Report 2 "The Namibian sports fraternity awoke to another tragic episode earlier this week when the nation learnt about the shock passing of one of the country’s most recognizable personalities. Former Acrow Chiefs and Chief Santos FC bulky defender Ben Molatzi, aka “Tukumazan”, has taken a bow from the game of life, aged 62. The strongly built Molatzi, a strict fitness fanatic whose muscled body resembled that of a body builder, died in his adopted town of Tsumeb on Monday after losing a long battle with diabetes. A product of Namibia’s largest residential area, Katutura, the late Molatzi, the man with the Midas touch, was a jack of all trades in the real sense of the word, excelling in almost everything he laid his hands on. Apart from his love for the beautiful game of football, Molatzi was an amazing multi-talented complete athlete, a high jumper of note, marathon runner, discuss and javelin thrower. On the football pitch, he was a fearless fullback whose canon-like shots left many a shot stopper with fractured fingers, while his bone-crunching tackles drove fear into marauding strikers. A polished traditional folk guitarist and singer, Molatzi was a musical genius whose unique musical repertoire placed him amongst the finest musos Namibia has ever produced. As we pay tribute to this unheralded musical and sports hero – New Era Sport will reveal the untold life story of Ben Molatazi. Born in the city of gold and bright lights, Johannesburg, South Africa in 1954, Ben Tumuzan Molatzi was the offspring of musical parents and his genes dictated he would become a musician. After all, his old man, a Damara-speaking migrant in Jozi, was a great vocalist and equally home with a harmonica slicing through his teeth while his mother, a traditional Sotho woman, was also a damn good female vocalist. Ben was the third born from 12 children. As a toddler, he survived the “black fever” epidemic that abbreviated the lives of two of his elder siblings. Unlike his father who was strictly hooked to playing traditional and church music, young Ben took an early liking to the popular live performances by “Warmgat” (Johannes Mureko) and Au Leyden (Leyden Naftali /Uriseb). In the early sixties, Ben found himself in the Namibian eastern town of Gobabis and it was during his time in that neck of the woods that he developed a serious interest in live music. He was to be inspired by local musicians and resolved to follow a musical career. During the school holidays, Ben used to work for a furniture outlet and the company would dispatch him to frequently visit Johannesburg to transport and deliver furniture. During one of those trips, Ben was given an acoustic six-string guitar by a woman who did not need it anymore. This was to be his first guitar, which he claimed he still kept at home as his magical memoir. “I started my musical inspiration from the sounds of the fields and combined it with the melodies which I had heard before. This was most important because there are birds which I know make beautiful music. Those birds make the best music, which I would copy and turned them into melody.” Young Ben relocated to Windhoek with his parents in 1969. He completed his primary school at the Rhenisch Damara/Nama School in Katutura in 1972. Next stop was the revered Cornelius Goraseb High School in Khorixas in 1973 to further his schooling, where he was trained to become a schoolteacher. It was in Khorixas that his musical career took a dramatic turn for the better. As a fairly young man turned into a schoolteacher, Ben would play music at the slightest provocation. He would strum his six-string acoustic guitar while taking young children through the ropes as they joined him in chorus. “Music is a medium which you can quickly teach a person; to help teach something better, or can teach as a topic so that they understand better. Music is everything. It is actually the strongest source of your knowledge.” Unlike the compositions of other bands, his musical repertoire was that of a one-man band entertaining revelers with folk music while strumming his trusted guitar, singing and whistling, going through the melodies of his own compositions. When roaming producers and sound engineers from SWABC visited his school in Khorixas in 1974 for field recordings, Ben and his trusted no-name six-string guitar were among those who lined up for auditions. Soon thereafter, Ben became a famous and much sought-after muso after the recordings were played over the SWABC Damara/Nama radio service. Songs like “Mati matis Kai-khoesa, sige si ge mai e /gi...” (How could the woman deny us our porridge...?) and “O Dama !Haose..” (Oh, Damara Clan) enjoyed massive airplay, leading to the inevitable release of his long-playing album in 1981. Unfortunately for his followers, the breathtaking album was only for SWABC usage. Shortly after the recording of his hit album, a second album saw the light but as fate would dictate, the album was never released for commercial gain. Sadly, the poor multi-talented musician was left with no leg to stand on in terms of claiming royalties for his recordings, while his music was freely aired by the SWABC and even NBC up to the modern today. [caption id=""attachment_91460"" align=""alignnone"" width=""192""] Old-timers… Ben (2nd from left - back row) with the Tsumeb Old Crocks football team prior to an exhibition football match in the copper town. Standing from left: Sackey Ilonga, Ben Molatzi, Celle Auchumeb, Mesag Kandjii, Steps Nickel, Mof Shailemo, Rudolf “Lu” Uiseb, Corrie Uri-Khob, Kerson Murorua. Squatting from left: Max Johnson, Raphael “Atla” Kakumai, Lickey Gideon, Zacks Angula, Pinko Eigowab, Teacher Tsuseb and Bullet Hansen.[/caption] " 2016-08-12Staff Report 2
