'The Horse' who backed himself

KENNETH "The Horse" Mokgojoa played in the romantic era of South African football - the 1970s and early 1980s, when the action was a dazzling display of dribbling skill by masters of the game, in front of packed stadiums.

The lightning-quick, physically imposing striker earned his nickname playing for Benoni United, for whom he scored a staggering 88 goals in 1977, when he was player of the year.

"We had a coach called John Thomas - he saw I had potential in taking players on. I used to train alone to work on speed. And I scored a lot of goals. Because of that a writer from the Sunday Star, Fanyana Shiburi, took me to Turffontein racecourse and took pictures of me sitting on a horse. From then on I was 'The Horse'."

It was an era when footballers played to entertain, and gain stardom and fame, not money. There was also a desire to ease people's hardships during dark political times.

"It was the only sport and entertainment in a black community to keep people together. For 20 cents entrance the football gave people some pleasure in their lives.

"Even if people were shooting each other in Thokoza, if you had a game there people would come and watch. Football cooled their anger."

In the late 1960s the youngster from Kagiso in Krugersdorp started to make his mark as a footballer at school in Moruleng, Rustenburg.

After Benoni he spent six months at Kaizer Chiefs before a move to the North American Soccer League, where many South Africans had a taste of football abroad. Mokgojoa says agent Toy Mostert was responsible for many of the deals with US clubs, including those of Jomo Sono, Ace Ntsoelengoe and Washington Diplomats teammate Andries Maseko.

Mokgojoa spent three seasons at the Diplomats, playing alongside Johan Cruyff, Wim Jansen and Guus Hiddink, then two more at Atlanta City Chiefs, whom Kaizer Motaung had represented in the early 1970s.

"You could get homesick. But when you played against a team with one of the South African players it was great - you'd spend the whole night together," he said.

Mokgojoa returned to South Africa in the heady days of the integration of the black, white, Indian and coloured leagues. In 1982 he joined Joe Frickleton's white giants Highlands Park.

"It wasn't always easy because the black guys would say I was a sellout, and the crowd could boo you. But I used that as a motivation. And today, if you look back and analyse it, you see we were trying to bring people together."

After retirement, "The Horse" fell into the trap of depression that can affect sportsmen once they're out of the limelight. He took to drink and his wife left him.

He put his life back together through religion, remarried 10 years ago, and three years ago was ordained as a Baptist priest.

"As a footballer you become a superstar - you think you can own the whole world. It's difficult to leave. I tried everything - witch doctors, liquor. I couldn't get happiness anywhere until I joined the church," he said.

Mokgojoa was an assistant coach for the national under-23 team in 2002.

He started working at Monash University in Roodepoort five years ago as a sports officer and head of football coaching.