Moorosi, the Iron Lady of the Buccaneers

• Published date: 10 December 2020
• Date: 10 December 2020
• Publication title: Sowetan (Johannesburg, South Africa)

Buccaneers

The woman who influenced things at the legendary Soweto club

A woman who influenced decisions at the legendary club

Over a decade before Margaret Thatcher occupied

No.10 Downing Street in London, South Africa already had its own Iron Lady. That’s

the title Moipone Moorosi earned during the rough and tumble years of what later became

South African professional football.

Moorosi holds an unusual distinction in this

regard as the only woman ever to have scored a goal for the mighty Orlando Pirates side.

This was back in the 1960s when Diego Maradona’s Hand of God was still a remote

possibility.

The incident occurred during a South African Soccer League (SASL) game

against Alexandra Real Fighters. The match was played at a packed Bantu Sports Grounds in

Johannesburg. Remarkably, Moorosi achieved this singular feat as a touchline spectator. A

goal-bound shot by one of the Buccaneers’ forwards, Jafta “Inch”

Gwamanda, was going off target. The plucky die-hard supporter went for the straying ball

and audaciously changed its course as she palmed it past the bemused opposition goalie,

Stanley Morapedi. Incredibly, the referee pointed at the centre spot to signal a goal.

The Ghost erupted in wild jubilation.

This week the granny and mother of two from

Orlando West confirmed the incident as if it was the most natural thing to do.

“It was a tough match. All I can say is that my involvement in that game helped us

to beat them. My action was definitely unconventional and certainly not allowed in the

referee’s rule book. So I was surprised when he ruled it a goal. It was

incredible. The protests by players and fans of Real Fighters didn’t help.”

Mme Moipone, 77, as she’s fondly known, was born into a family of staunch

Orlando Pirates supporters in the Soweto neighbourhood that gave birth to the

country’s oldest club in the premier league. Her father, Robert Setlogelo, owned a

truck that used to ferry players and supporters to the games. The club had been in

existence for hardly six years when she was born in 1943 in Orlando East. It was wartime

in Europe and one player’s nickname reflected that dark chapter in history

– a deadly striker named James “Hitler” Sobi. “Hitler was the

club’s most powerful goalscorer. Goalkeepers feared him as he packed deadly shots

in both legs. As supporters we loved all the players but reserved a special place in our

hearts for Hitler,” she says.

According to Mme Moipone, she and striker

Alfred “Russia” Jacobs were the ones who...