POLL | Who is the greatest South African footballer of all time?

Football, like politics, is personal to its followers. So, the question of who the greatest South African footballer of all time is tends to ruffle feathers, divide opinions and create heated discussions. 

In the rich history of South African football, and particularly from the far less well-documented “golden age” of great players hidden from the world in sports isolation in the 1970s and 1980s, it is hard enough picking one player who could wear the mantle of best player ever, but even the five “nominees” TimesLIVE has in its poll will be disputed. 

There are many other names — among them John “Shoes” Moshoeu, Mlungisi “Professor” Ngubane, Gary Bailey, Nelson “Teenage” Dladla, Lawrence Chellin, Mark Tovey, Cedric “Sugar Ray” Xulu, Kaizer Motaung, Lucas “Masterpieces” Moripe and Bernard “Dancing Shoes” Hartze — who might have made the list. 

It is impossible to sum up the immense achievements of the players we selected in a nutshell. 

Our choices include two of the biggest names of the 1970s and 1980s who dominated the headlines in that era for the Soweto rivals, Orlando Pirates great Matsilele “Jomo” Sono and Kaizer Chiefs great Pule “Ace” Ntsoelengoe. 

After winning many trophies at Pirates, Sono started his own club, Jomo Cosmos, in 1983. He played alongside Pelé, Johan Neeskens and Franz Beckenbauer at the New York Cosmos in the brief lifespan of the North American Soccer League (NASL), and also for Colorado Caribous and Atlanta Chiefs. He was the biggest figure, and its first genuine superstar, in South African football in the 1970s and 1980s. Few players were ever feared on a South African soccer field like Sono was, and opposition teams had to try to come up with plans specifically to counter him.

Ntsoelengoe was the star player, midfield fulcrum, recognised as one of the most intelligent and high-skilled footballers produced by South Africa, for the almighty trophy machines that were Chiefs in the 1970s and 1980s. He did better in the NASL than Sono, playing 11 seasons for Miami Torros, Denver Dynamos, Minnesota Kicks and Toronto Blizzards, ranking among the league’s all-time highest in appearances and goals. He was voted onto the NASL’s All Star line-up in 1979 and 1982 and earned honourable mentions in 1977, 1978 and 1980. He was inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003. 

Steve “Kalamazoo” Mokone represented South Africa at 16. He became the first black professional in Britain, and later in Holland, when he joined Coventry City in 1955, before earning superstar status playing for the Dutch side Heracles and later Torino in Italy. In 1959 he was written about in the Italian press as among Europe's best players. 

Lucas Radebe won trophies in Chiefs' all-conquering line-up of the early 1990s before moving to Leeds United in 1994 where, in a career in the English Premier League (EPL) lasting until 2005, he became one of the most respected defenders in the world. He captained Leeds and helped David O'Leary's competitive combination to third place in the EPL in 1999-2000 and the Uefa Champions League semifinals the year after that. A key player in Bafana Bafana who won the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil, he captained the national team at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. 

Benni McCarthy is Bafana Bafana's all-time top scorer with 31 goals in 79 games and the only South African to win the Uefa Champions League, for Jose Mourinho's FC Porto in 2004. He had a glittering career in Europe, winning the 1997-1998 Eredivisie with a star-studded Ajax Amsterdam and Primeira Liga with Porto in 2003-2004 and 2005-2006. He was the second-top scorer to Didier Drogba in the EPL with Blackburn Rovers in 2006-2007. He came home and won a Premiership title with Pirates in 2011-2012. For Bafana he was the tournament joint-top scorer as they finished second at the 1998 Nations Cup and played and scored against Spain at the 2002 World Cup.