It has been nearly 23-years now since former Civics stylish midfielder Elgin ‘Sputla’ Masite, made a shock move to his native South Africa after leaving the Civilians under mysterious circumstances in 1991. It’s a well-documented secret in domestic football that the midfield partnership of Sputla and Ricardo Mannettie in the maroon and white strip of the Civilians, was doubtlessly the envy of many a football fan prior to Namibia’s independence and shortly afterwards.
History will reveal that Namibian football will be incomplete if Sputla’s name and unmatched credentials are not enshrined in the golden pages of our archives. New Era Sports caught up with the now retired attacking midfielder at his home in Soweto, White City, Jabavu, near Johannesburg. On face value, the humorous ‘Smiling Assassin’ is his usual self and has lost none of his nonchalance as he shares his experience and the backbiting in Namibian football he experienced – speaking out for the first time why he packed his bags and left Windhoek in a huff to retreat to his native land and sacrificing a beckoning lifetime career opportunity to represent his adopted country internationally.
JOHANNESBURG – Sputla began his football career at Soweto-based Wolves FC in White City – Jabavu, at the fairly young age of ten. He played alongside legends such as Ronnie Zondi, Rudolph Seale, Itumeleng Modise, Philip ‘China’ Bhengu and Itu Shuping before the highly gifted Soweto-born youngster graduated to the Orlando Pirates youth teams where he rubbed shoulders with former Pirates defender Sipho Sikhonde. His fairytale sojourn in Namibian football started with the Khomasdal outfit Arsenal FC before he was snapped up by Civics via Young Ones. Sputla was a real entertainer and a football genius second to none in the real sense of the word. He was doubtlessly a much adored footballer in the business and most accomplished midfielder of his generation in terms of skill; reading the game and his technical know-how of the beautiful game, while his incredible first touch left many defenders gasping for fresh air. “There were a lot of problems in the education system in South Africa and my mother suggested that I should leave South Africa and further my secondary education in neigbouring countries. We made enquires in Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia, but resolved to settle for Namibia because they were the first to come up with a positive response,” reveals Sputla.
Aged 17, Sputla boarded the bomber (train) and embarked on the long journey from Johannesburg to Windhoek only to re-surface at the Jacob Marengo Secondary School in Katutura, Namibia’s largest township. The school had no hostel and young Sputla, a Grade 9 learnerl, was obliged by circumstances beyond his control to take up lodgings in the school library. It was not long before he hooked up with folks from Upington, South Africa who took a liking to him and this is how he met what would become his greatest buddy Yves Townes. After just a few games for the school’s football team, Townes had seen enough of the football crazy Sowetan and took him to Khomasdal’s unfashionable outfit Arsenal FC.
Having played mainly in the defensive position during his formative years on the football pitch, Sputla was finally converted to an attacking midfielder by then Arsenal mentor, the great Gary ‘The Lip’ Sales. It took little time for the highly gifted dribbling wizard to settle in his new playmaker role as he went on to become the most accomplished midfielder in domestic football. Despite his unquestionable football genius – Sputla was unable to safe Arsenal from relegation, but he would not be tempted to go down to the lower division with the Gunners. He eventually jumped ship and justifiably so, because the ‘Smiling Assassin’ was just too good to feature anywhere outside the country’s flagship league – hence his inevitable arrival at Khomasdal glamour football club, Young Ones. “In fact, I was supposed to have gone to Civics, but Lance Willemse persuaded me to join Young Ones FC instead, since they were a more established unit and had great players led by Kosie Springbok, Capes Nel, Otto Landsberg, Ben Hendricks, Reus Nortje and player coach Boet Mathews.”
After only one season with the ‘Kings of the Night’ as Young Ones was affectionately known among its ardent fans in those days, Sputla developed itchy feet and crossed the floor to join rivals Civics. “Civics offered me accommodation at Ralph Blaauw’s residence who was also playing for the team at the time. Obviously, there was a difference in the style of play having come from South Africa where players put more emphasis on skill and ball possession. But it was easier to adapt to the quick one-touch football employed by many teams in Namibia.” He was a notch above his teammates, simply because he went through a good development system at Pirates and Parkhurst FC in his native Johannesburg, where he was taken through the ropes by credible football coaches with the late Eddy Lewis, among them. Sputla became an instant hit with the Civilian diehards, including fans from rival teams which culminated in Civics drawing large crowds through the turnstiles to the extent that even the neutral football fan would flock to the stadium, wherever the Civilians played since they wanted to get full value for their money. With the nimble-footed Sputla on the field, they were certainly reciprocated in the most appropriate fashion. “I really enjoyed my football at Arsenal, because we always operated as a unit and playing alongside young Bucksy (Ricardo Mannettie) was absolutely phenomenal. We had a very good squad of highly talented young and enthusiastic footballers aided by an admirable level of discipline coupled with an unbelievable camaraderie,” recalls Sputla with tears welling up in his eyes.
His virtuosity on the football did not go unnoticed and Sputla was deservedly selected to feature for the Namibian Presidential Invitational XI against the visiting Spartak Moscow FC in an exhibition match at Namibia’s independence celebrations at the packed to rafters Windhoek Stadium in 1990. However, petty politics kept the skillful midfielder out of the match, thus denying local football lovers an ideal chance to watch one of the greatest footballers to have emerged from the shores of domestic football to showcase his God given talents against formidable international opposition. “What really pissed me off is that they had the temerity to replace me with another South African, Jomo Sono, featuring as a guest player in that particular match.”
Subsequently, Sputla was selected to represent his adopted land in the newly introduced biannual youth tournament in Helsinki, Finland, but once again was prevented by external forces, constantly questioning his eligibility to represent Namibia since he was a foreigner. Gatvol, Sputla resolved to pack his bags and retreat to Johannesburg to pursue his football in a more conducive environment, where his skill and talent would be appreciated and not be judged on his nationality. “My ultimate mission was to play in the PSL, so when I returned to Johannesburg, I went straight to Pirates for trials under the watchful eye of head coach Mike Mckaab, who had Sheperd Murape as his deputy. Bra Sheperd knew me from my time in Namibia and was keen to sign me on, but I received a tempting offer from Raphael ‘Mlungisi’ Ngubane, better known as Professor in football circles. “Pro knew me from his time with Liverpool in Namibia and recruited me to feature for his club Reservoir Heels FC in Durban, which was campaigning in the second division.
Sputla, was given the task of bossing the midfield alongside former Kiazer Chiefs players Jacob Pilane and Lesley Langa. However, the club failed to gain promotion to the elite league and this prompted Sputla to go back to the City of Gold (Gauteng) to try his luck with Pirates again at the invitation of Murape. As fate would have it, niggling injuries finally put paid to his progress and aspirations and Sputla decided to call it quits, although this did not discourage him from being involved in the game that took him across the Orange River. Sputla currently plays social football and coaches aspiring young footballers in Soweto.
He is also planning to start his own Football Academy for lower primary schools.
By Carlos ‘CK’ Kambaekwa