Year: 1996.
Place: Pavilion Shopping Mall.
I was not there on a shopping spree. As a student journalist in my final year, I needed a way to generate income for taxi fare to and from Technikon Natal, or for a new pair of All Star or Jack Purcell.
It was January 13 and Pick n Pay was my place of temporary employment, at the biggest mall in Africa at the time - which stood like a gigantic spaceship against my tiny township of Chesterville sprawling on the escarpment.
Pava, as we called it, was where I spent my days when not burying my head in books in pursuit of self-development, or watching football - my source of perpetual enjoyment.
Part of the day being difficult was informed by the babalas borne from copious amounts of cheap alcohol consumed the previous Friday on campus, as was the wont of students.
But that particular Saturday was especially strenuous because it presented the conundrum of juggling working as a perishables merchandiser and stealing a glimpse of the action on the telly.
The eyes of the world were on SA. The country was the stage for the Africa Cup of Nations extravaganza.
International football greenhorns Bafana Bafana had to get the tournament under way against evergreens Cameroon, who two years before had become the first African country to reach the quarterfinals of a Fifa World Cup.
It was a mismatch of monumental proportions. SA was enveloped in the excitement of the wind of change, dripping in the delirium of the release of political prisoners and the return of exiles. It culminated in the first democratic election.
FNB Stadium provided the platform. That's where Nelson Mandela, the people's president, spoke.
That's where the funeral service was held for Chris Hani, the assassinated general secretary of the SACP and commander of the people's army, Umkhonto we Sizwe.
New heroes needed to be born.
SCORING ON BIG OCCASIONS
One Philemon "Chippa" Masinga, who died of cancer last Sunday, raised his hand to become one of those new South African heroes. He was no showman: he showed up and shored up Bafana Bafana.
A man of great goals - 18 in 58 games for Bafana - his catalogue boasts a collection of some gems, scored on big occasions.
One of them set Bafana in motion in the 3-0 win over the Indomitable Lions.
From a pass by the man nicknamed "16V", Doctor Khumalo, Masinga revved up Bafana's engine with the opening goal of the tournament. Later, he kept the ball alive for Mark Williams to double the damage and played an intricate touch-and-go with John "Shoes" Mosheou for the final nail in the Cameroon coffin.
At club level, the boy born in Khumo, in Klerksdorp, North West, 49 years ago, was the main man for Jomo Cosmos years earlier.
The 1991 BP Top 8 final contested by Cosmos and Kaizer Chiefs was a top-drawer, seven-goal thriller. Masinga was the star of the show, scoring a hat trick.
Fani Madida was voted player of the tournament, but the public outcry that followed the controversial call saw it being overturned and the award given to Masinga.
His personal favourite goal was an overhead kick against the selfsame Chiefs that was so good it was voted goal of the season in the same year.
Masinga swapped the Cosmos shirt for the yellow and blue of the Brazilians of Mamelodi, Sundowns. With more than 90 goals in over a century of games, a dream move to England followed.
His legend as a hat-trick hero continued at Elland Road, home of Leeds United. He came off the bench to fire an FA Cup extra-time triple against Walsall.
It was one of his last acts in 31 appearances for the Peacocks of West Yorkshire. After two years, Masinga's contract was not renewed. Leeds's new recruit, Ghanaian Tony Yeboah, was settling in.
When Masinga fell short of the requisite number of games for the renewal of his work permit, it was time to go.
Off he went to Italy, via St Gallen of Switzerland.
He pulled off a creditable Italian job, producing a return of more than 30 goals for Bari and Salernitana in four years.
That's nothing to scoff at.
Actually, it proved his proficiency as a striker because those goals were notched at a time when the Italian Serie A was the best football league in the world.
Those exploits earned Masinga enormous respect in the land of pizza and pasta. He also paved the way for those who followed in his footsteps.
Say your say, Siyabonga Nomvethe, who played for Salernitana, where Masinga had played earlier: "He was a well-respected figure in Italy. When I got there, they told me that they respect that man too much.
"They said he was a hard-working, intelligent footballer and one of the best strikers.
"I remember them telling me that there was a game Bari had to play. They were in a relegation position. That match was going to decide which team dropped to Serie B.
"It was a decider. But there was a problem for Bari because [Bafana] was playing. Bari hired a private jet to take Masinga back to Italy immediately after the Bafana match. That is how much they valued him.
"He scored three goals and the club survived relegation. He was a hero who paved the way for me in Italy. They respected me because of him. They said he was a strong player. I was heartbroken when I heard the news of his death," Nomvethe said.
True to his character of leaving a memorable footprint in every epochal moment, that was Masinga.
MASINGA MAGIC
Year: 1997.
Venue: FNB Stadium.
On the edge of the centre line inside the Congo half, Doctor Khumalo intercepts the ball and it falls into Masinga's path.
One touch.
Second touch.
Third touch.
Kaboom!
Clive Barker's aeroplane celebration - arms stretched out wide on the sides as the stocky coach sailed away in jubilation - was set in motion.
The blistering drive from 25m away was not just a solitary strike.
Significantly, it booked Bafana their first berth at a World Cup, coming just under two years after clinching their maiden Africa Cup of Nations.
It sent SA into a spin as cars were spun from Soweto to Soshanguve.
That was the Masinga magic.
He was a frank talker who didn't beat about the bush, the kind who understood that a spade was exactly that, not merely a garden implement.
When the money was rolling in, Masinga bought a palatial house in Krugersdorp, an abode that looked pretty in pink.
His generosity extended to the footballers of apartheid years who missed out on a chance to showcase their skills. Masinga, it is said, would organise transport for them to be taken to the Michelangelo in Sandton, where he wined and dined them.
If indeed the darkest nights produced the brightest stars, the brighter days had their dark moments.
He also experienced the turbulence of tough times. Tabloids published news of him moving into his mother's back room.
Amid allegations that he had hit hard times and claims that he had sold his memorabilia, including his Nations Cup winners' medal, Masinga told the Sowetan of the heartache that such stories visited on his children.
"I would be lying if I said I was not going through a bad patch like everybody else in life. But to say I'm down and out is not true. There were media reports that I sold my clothes and furniture to make a living, and that's not true. That really affected my kids and they were teased at school."
Cared for his kids
Khumalo tells a tale of a man who doted on his offspring.
"You could tell from the facial expression when he spoke about his kids that his love for them came from a very deep place.
"Like any responsible father, he was very caring about his children, very protective and very proud.
"His roommate usually was [the late] Sizwe Motaung. He loved engaging in intense discussions, always seeking knowledge.
"He would always want clarity and, if he knew something, he would be at the forefront to explain.
"Whenever we would tease each other, he was the one laughing the loudest. The joke was never over until Phil had exhausted it."
Masinga bore the brunt of supporters who showered him with a chorus of boos whenever he wasted a glorious chance. It tore him to pieces and brought him to tears. But his teammates rallied behind him.
"There was a time he dropped tears," recalls Khumalo. "We said to him: 'At the end of the day we want you in the team. We understand what you bring into the team. We are not going to let this thing destroy you.'
"As his teammates, we stood behind him. As soon as he missed a chance we would give him a high five and say 'go again, Chippa'. Today we are talking about a legend that took us to the World Cup with that goal."
PERFECT PARTNERS
Masinga, the first Bafana player to get a red card back in 1992, had a particular understanding with Khumalo, who was blessed with the ability to read the movements of his teammates and plant that perfect pass.
The telepathy developed in Soweto while at high school, Masinga at Matsike and Khumalo at Daliwonga.
"We used to go and play five-a-side at Shareworld. Chippa used to be on my side, this is where the chemistry started.
"It is a social factor that comes off the field. Off the field you're friends. On the field, you trust, believe and know that this individual understands what you're going to do."
Thank you, Jomo Sono, for your special eye and making him a graduate of your Cosmos university of football.
Thank you, Screamer Tshabalala, for giving him his first cap.
Thank you, Clive Barker, for persisting with him against adversity.
Thank you, Phil, for being resistance, perseverance and endurance personified.
The boo boys didn't break you.
The greedy officials didn't outwit you.
PS: Tell Sizwe Motaung, Shoes Mosheou and your late cousin, Bennett Masinga, the man who influenced your career, that iBafana ayisafani (Bafana isn't the same).
1969-2019..