Pecka Semba

I have learnt about the passing of one Namibia football’s greatest personalities Selle Augumeb. I was a learner at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Mission School (Dobra) and football (soccer) was the in-thing. It was played at this school as if it was going out of fashion. When I first heard about a deadly striker, Selle, playing for a Tsumeb based team, called Chief Santos. 

Ironically, we also had a hostel team, Chief Santos. Most of us had nicknames of established national and international players, and the name Selle featured; it was a sought-after nickname. We occasionally quarrelled or even fought about who the bearer of this name should be.

At Dobra then, we had our soccer heroes at school, namely Albert Tjihero, Max Johnson, Stoe Damaseb, George Martin, Laurentius Urikhob and Kandas Paulino. 

It appeared to me that Selle was a student at Dobra before I enrolled there. 

In those days, we would flock to Windhoek/Katutura at the corrugated iron surrounded Katutura Stadium, pay twenty cents (20) to witness the cream de la cream of Namibian football stars of yesteryear. It was at this soccer tournament I saw Selle Augumeb. He was always up there, amongst the best on display during a particular tournament. He would make goal-scoring seem easy – and he went past defenders as if they were frozen. He had it all. Tactical, technical awareness and a dominating self-believe.

Great was our excitement as young learners and soccer fans. When Selle was part of the Black Eleven squad, who was partly to train at Dobra school in preparation for their historic match against a selected White Eleven soccer squad. We virtually “hanged on their lips” when they freely taught us their soccer journeys and freely mingled with us. During training sessions, Selle would rattle the net at will – much to our excitement of the skills at display. He was calm and collected and hardly showed any worries about the most important match of his life, which was imminent. 

I was lucky when my late mom Justine Kamukuenjandje took me to this match on that Saturday afternoon. I can vividly recall how the Black Eleven ran circles around their opponents. Amongst the standout players that day was Selle Augumeb. He took to the occasion like a duck to water and simplified the game, simultaneously taking it to the highest of levels.

There was one match, where Selle was part of three men attacking frontline, consisting of Crooks Casper, Peter Joseph Damaseb (Pele) and Selle Augumeb (Ironically this trio are late now), with the mercurial Hannes Louw pulling the strings in midfield. 

Playing against arguably the most feared Orlando Pirates (Katutura) team of those years in a semi-final match, it ended in a stalemate, and the match had to be replayed early next morning. 

The following day, a Selle Augumeb-inspired team beat Pirates very easily with three goals to none. They went on to beat Black Africa in the final, Selle again showing his experience by making the game look easy in a huge upset.

In later years, I would play with the late Chris Amakali, Naftalie Naobeb, Gabriel Wennerth and many others from Tsumeb. They would glorify the name Selle as a cult hero who inspired them to become top footballers in their own right. To them, the mention of the name ‘Selle’ was synonymous with Chief Santos Football Club – not only as a football club but as an institution that Selle contributed and helped built through the years, perhaps more than any other single individual.

It will, in my opinion, be a fitting and lasting tribute if the powers that be in the Copper Town, give due recognition to the contributions of Sagarias Selle Augumeb by immortalising his name and name a street or prominent landmark after this greatest of greats. Kai aios Omes.  !Gâise du ī re. ǂKhîb !nâ sâ re Au Selle.