My first read of 2023 is something I picked up purely out of curiosity and I wasn’t even sure I’d finish it. The subject matter isn’t something I usually go for because I’m not a huge soccer fan, but I thought there was no harm in trying something new. I’m glad I did because I found the book interesting, and I learnt a few things!
I first heard of the name Zola ‘Mr Cool’ Mahobe when my boyfriend recounted the story of the founding father of Mamelodi Sundowns. Mahobe and his girlfriend Snowy Moshoeshoe found a way to defraud Standard Bank in the 80s and used the money to fund one of Africa's most popular football clubs, Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Legend of Zola Mahobe and the Mamelodi Sundowns Story is captivating, it’s like something out of a movie! Mahobe is like the Black Robin Hood, he reminds me of the character Lucy Kunene in the hit South African film Jerusalema. Kunene described stealing from a capitalist system and giving back to black communities as ‘affirmative repossession’ and he often referred to himself as the black Robin Hood. Much like the fictional character Kunene, Mahobe was larger than life and enjoyed the finer things in life. However, it was not lost on him that the way he acquired his riches meant he always had to watch his back. He was often quoted saying ‘I am a man with many challenges. I like to travel with my lawyers and my gunman next to me.’
Don Lepati and Nikolaos Kirkinis write with so much flair, making the book an actual page-turner, I was hooked from the get-go. I also enjoyed how well-researched the book is, it not only tells the story of Mahobe and Sundowns but takes you on a journey of South Africa’s rich football history and its intersections with the political, social, and economic landscapes at the time. This helped to contextualise the type of society Mahobe lived in and what shaped the decisions he made.
However, I found the mention of certain historical details exhaustive and misplaced; I would have preferred for some of that effort to be redirected towards the characters. The authors mention characters one would feel are important in Mahobe’s story en passant. For example, Mahobe had a wife called Siza and another girlfriend Mandisa (yes, he had a wife and two girlfriends) with whom he had a total of four children. We never hear about these women and children, even at the peak of Mahobe’s popularity and wealth. This left me wondering what type of research went into putting this book together and whether his family had an input in the telling of this tale.
I also felt that not much attention was given to Snowy’s story. She is almost reduced to being an accessory to Mahobe and not an integral part of his rise to the top. While Mahobe is the one who cracked the code on how to divert money from the bank into his own business accounts without a trace, Snowy played an important role in making sure the coffers were never dry. Instead, the only detail of Snowy’s life and character we’re given is that she claimed she was related to the royal family of Lesotho, she had a great sense of style and she had a friend named Gladys who was jealous of her relationship with Mahobe and the glamours lifestyle their money afforded them. Gladys ultimately dropped a clue that led to Standard Bank investigating Snowy.
At the age of 28, she was convicted on 129 counts of fraud and sentenced to 10 years in prison, of which she only served four. She is only described as “the woman who played a maverick role in helping Mahobe to build his empire…” when writing about how she lost her life. I must acknowledge that writing about people posthumously is a mammoth task, especially when writing about incidents that happened over three decades ago with very little archive material. For that, I commend everyone who has contributed to this body of work, it is important in the history of South African football.
I would recommend The Legend of Zola Mahobe and the Mamelodi Sundowns Story to anyone interested in the beautiful game and South African history There is a lot to learn from this book.
The Legend of Zola Mahobe and the Mamelodi Sundowns Story is available at all major bookstores in South Africa.