Man, we hope you have more Joel Seroba stories in your bag because the ones you've shared so far are classic. You gotta love that guy.
Well, when he said we would meet some good day, it's as if he knew we would later meet at Ria Stars. He would pray for us every day at Ria Stars. Before we went to sleep, he would call us and say, "Hey guys, let's come and pray." We would pray, but after training, he would say, "Nna I'm going to play dice. I want money." He liked dice too much! Every night, he would say, "Dukes, can you borrow me R500?" I would ask him, "Where are you going?" and he would tell me, "No, I wanna go and play some dice." Fine, I would give him R500 and with that R500 he would put it down and say to me, "Let's pray, Dukes. I'm going to make some money because we don't have money here in the house." He would come back with R30 000, ha, ha, ha. In the morning at training, he would come with that money and throw it everywhere. He would say, "Come to me! Come and see me! I want to loan you because your team doesn't have money!"
Ha, ha, ha, that's hilarious. Vintage Joel Seroba!
And he would loan his teammates money and tell them, "Month end, you must come and see me." He was looking after players. He was a character. He was not drinking, he was not smoking, but ey, that guy…
Go on.
I remember one day at training, the mood wasn't that good as we had not been paid yet. We were waiting for our salaries. Sis Ria (Ledwaba, club boss) was coming to address us, you see. She arrived at the training ground and before she could start addressing us, Seroba just stood up and said, "Sia Ria, the training mood is gone because you are going to waste our time. Nna Sis Ria, I'm working two jobs. I'm playing football and I'm playing dice. Please, Sis Ria, if you are coming here to announce gore (that) our money is going to be delayed, "Chicco" (Twala) is not paying us, can we finish early because I'm going to play dice. Nna I'm working." Ha, ha, ha, the tension just flew out the window because we just started laughing! And he would go and play dice the whole day, and come back with R10 000 in his possession. When we travelled to play in Cape Town and didn't have money, he would give us R500 each, R300 each… and once we got paid, we would go and pay off the debt. He was a very good guy and I always miss that man. Joel Seroba, he's my brother maan, we were sharing everything.
His off-field escapades aside, he was a very good player too.
Very talented player. You know what he was doing? When we were training, he would sometimes come up to me and say, "Machaka, watch out for Joel Seroba! Even on the left I can play. You are going to eat some ice on the bench." Ha, ha, ha. He would make those kinds of jokes, and come day of the game, then they would say, "Dukes on the left wing, Joel on the bench!" Yho, yho, yho, Lunga, he would be furious! He was my roommate at the time and he would come to me and gossip. He would say, "How can they put me on the bench? You know what, my friend? I'm going to leave this team." He would be cross sitting on the bench. He enjoyed nothing more than being on the field and playing football. While the game was on, he would tell me, "Dukes, you know what? I'm not going to wait for the coach to call me. I'll just stand and warm up." Indeed, he would just stand and go warm up, and then the fans would go, "Aaaaace!" The coach would now be under pressure because he had never called for him to go and warm up. The coach would then call him and put him on. Yho, he would go on to do miracles! He would create and score, and then in the dressing room after the game, you would hear him saying, "Coach, why did you put me on the bench? No, I'm not happy! I want to leave this team. You can't put me on the bench. No one is scoring there, no one is creating, only Joel Seroba."
He was something else.
Ha, ha, ha, what a character! He would say, "Coach, I'm here to work. I want bonus. I want to give my kids that money. You can't put me on the bench, no, no, no. I work very hard during the week." Even the coaches liked him because in the camp, he was the one who was making us enjoy things. He was fun to be around and made jokes. Never took things personally. If we travelled without him, he would call me and say, "Dukes, you must be bored there because I'm not in camp", and that was true. He's jolly that man. That's the person that I met who I can call my friend in football. He and Andries Sebola. Even Sebola, he was a nice guy. I spent most of my spare time with the two guys because we were clicking, but all my teammates were my friends. Even the opponents. I like to socialise with everyone.
What about the late Thabang Lebese? Everyone who played with him has a funny story to share about the former dribbling wizard.
I played with him – may his soul rest in peace. I met him at Ria Stars, maar (but) before then, we used to meet at Elka Stadium where former professional players were training. He was from Soweto. Most of the time, I was that side in Soweto and we would meet at training. That time, he was still playing in the U21 side, the reserve team of Kaizer Chiefs, coached by (Eliakim) "Pro" Khumalo, the father of Doctor Khumalo. They were training there at Elka Stadium. Abo (The likes of) Brian Baloyi were still playing in the reserve team and I knew them from that side when I went for holidays. But I met Lebese properly at Ria Stars, where we played together. He was one of a kind. You know, after a long time playing with him, Thembinkosi Biyela, Sydney Moshikaro, Thapelo Liau, I realised that this world is too small because I discovered he was my relative. One time when I read Kick Off magazine after his passing, I learnt that his mother was a Machaka. I was so surprised because they were from Meadowlands, but we didn't know we were related. It hurt me. It was very painful because I lost my parents at a younger age and I never knew there were some relatives (of ours) that side. But others I know them from Naledi, Tladi. That is why I say this world is too small, and he was a good player, a very, very good player. Plus he was a character in his own right. Wherever he went, people had to see him that Thabang is here, ha, ha, ha. But people say things about someone but when you are close to him, you'll listen to the media sometimes and say, "Hayi (No), the person is not like this." Sometimes they'll say Dukes is a bad person or whatever, but when you sit next to me, (you'll find that) I'm not that type of a person. Thabang was a very good guy, but he wanted his own space, you know.
Sure.
When you want your own space, people start to view you in a bad light. As people, we are not the same. Some enjoy being in groups, others like to be alone. Nna I never saw anything wrong with him, he was living his own life. He was a guy from kasi, he was naughty. For example, Frank Makua was quiet, like a Christian, a very humble guy, he doesn't talk too much. I never had any problem with Thabang, we were just playing football together. You know what he was doing? That is why I'm saying he was naughty. Inside the field, he wanted all the balls to come to him. If you don't pass to him, he becomes furious. He would say, "Hey Dukes, give me the ball!" Biyela would say, "Dukes, bring the ball in the box, we want to score." Ha, ha, ha. After the game, Thabang would confront me and say, "Dukes, why are you listening to Biyela? Why don't you give me the ball?" I had to tell him, "No, man, I can't give you the ball all the time, you are not playing alone. We must share this thing. Biyela likes to score. I'll pass to Biyela to score. Wena you like to dribble. We'll give you, you'll dribble."
By Lunga Adam
STILL IN TOUCH FUN FACTS
First paycheque: R2 500
Biggest bonus: R5 000
Opponent I respected the most: Johannes Mine
Team I'd have loved to play for: Kaizer Chiefs
Favourite PSL player right now: Themba Zwane
Best coach I played under: Jacob Sakala
Craziest request from a fan: None, just requests for sports merchandise
