Birthed and groomed in the then Damaraland settlement, Samora !Ganeb was brought up in the Royal House of the late chief of the Damaras, Petrus !Ganeb, affectionately known as “Die Leeu van Damaraland” (The Lion of Damaraland).
!Ganeb started his elementary education in the semi-desert village town of Khorixas and attained his school-leaving certificate at the revered Cornelius Goreseb High School. Like many other young boys his age, !Ganeb was an ardent football lover, who spent most of the afternoons and weekends in the dusty streets of the town of Khorixas, chasing an inflated spherical piece of leather.
He was inspired by his uncle Martin !Ganeb, who plied his trade with Robber Chanties. His admiration and inspiration supporting Robber Chanties, inspired by his pair of in-laws Jochonias #Ouseb and Asser Kapukare. He made it his sole beat to take care of their playing boots, from polishing to carrying before official games.
“I fell in love with the performance of the great sharpshooter Benjamin ‘Kleintjie’ !Gaseb, the defensive acumen of stalwart Eliphas Sabbatha, and never ever took my eyes off the Royal blue and yellow strip outfit.” The team was handsomely loaded with super- stars it was very hard for every Tom, Dick and Harry to be guaranteed a starting berth in the star-studded lineup.
Interestingly, !Ganeb only managed to pull the navy and gold jersey twice over his head during his younger days, whilst still at High School in 1988, after Chanties found themselves with a shortage of playing personnel in their away assignment at the old Katutura stadium in Windhoek.
The rookie defender was the only substitute on the team sheet in the encounter against old foes Orlando Pirates, and as they say, the rest is history. After matriculating with flying colours in 1989, !Ganeb was deservedly offered an apprenticeship bursary by CDM.
He obtained a diploma as a technician
from the mining town’s Technical College. A fully-fledged Construction Supervisor for Capital Projects with Sinomine Tsumeb Smelters Old TCL Mine), !Ganeb is currently pursuing a degree in Project Management at the University of Namibia (UNAM).
Unfortunately, his academic assignments have kept him away from his hometown (Khorixas) for a considerable period…thus restricting his much neeed presence amongst the navy and gold army. Back on the football field, !Ganeb finally made his official debut for Robbers in 1995.
The visitors came up against Khomasdal outfit Civics at the Windhoek Independence stadium during the Easter Tournament. Interestingly, Chanties won the tourney. Soon afterwards, IGaneb left for the diamond-rich mining town of Oranjemund to start work for CDM. The Khorixas-born lad waste little time, and joined forces with local team Appies United FC, made up of apprentices. The team competed in the competitive Oranjemund local football league. The domestic league was loaded with star players in the following sequence.
Stylish ball juggler Lucky Richter spearheaded an array of great players such as Willem Wermann, Giddies Gawanab, Justice Basson, Bigman Schultz, Phello Muatunga Snr, Markus Damaseb, Putu Eigowab, Ockie van Wyk, Clarence Titus, Pablo Wermann and many other
great footies of remarkable pedigree.
It should be noted that back in the day, mines chiefly employed talented athletes during that era, competing fiercely in the hotly-contested Chamber of Inter-Mines Multi Sport Games. !Ganeb spent most of his playing career as a tough-tackling right fullback back since he was strictly right-footed and could hardly walk on his left foot….excuse the pun. United undertook an energy-sapping weeklong road tour to the Mother City (Cape Town), playing against a strong quartet of local invitational teams that included the Western Cape Provincial under-20 side, preparing for their historical European tour to Greater Manchester, England.
“That trip and experience was without a shadow of doubt the highlight of my short-lived football-playing career.” In the intervening years, !Ganeb doubled as player/coach for Appies as he was starting to get a bit long in the tooth, before switching allegiance to managing the team administratively. In his own words, he was always inspired by the great lethal
goal-poacher Unias ‘Phello’ Muatunga, who was still actively playing competitive football for the diamond mining club. Following the shock death of Robber Chanties stalwart Uncle Boni Kruger, the community outfit was in dire need of a steadfast leader to steer the ship. !Ganeb needed no second invitation, and took over the reins as club chairman. He assembled a formidable team and set out a five-year blueprint for the club. “In our first year in charge, Chanties won the coveted league title to be crowned the undisputed champions of the Kunene Regional League.”
The new management promised to burn the midnight oil in a concerted effort to bring the team back to her former glory days. !Ganeb strongly believes it’s an attainable task, given the great support from senior players, ably aided by surviving founder members who keenly follow the team’s rapid progress on social media.
The football-crazy incumbent honcho of Robber Chanties is happily hitched to his longtime lass Poppy !Ganes, who bore him a trident of ‘Pikininis,’ a son and pair of beautiful daughters. His equally-talented ‘laaitie’ Madava is a left-footed fullback, turning out for Walvis-Bay Football Academy.
Youngest daughter #Khibagu plays for Blue Waters Netball team, whilst old lady ‘Poppy’ was a formidable basket-rattler (netball), rattling the hoops for exciting Orwetoveni outfit Black Marokko Chiefs (BMC) netball team. Upon retiring from playing competitive netball, madame serves on the Erongo Regional Netball Management.