In the 1950s, as the Congress Alliance became more articulate and the ANC became more radicalised, football and sport in general entered the mainstream of the anti-apartheid struggle. It was a particularly soft spot in the underbelly of the apartheid oppressors who loved their sport, worshipped sports figures and regularly prayed for victory against competitors. This attachment to sport was mercilessly exploited by the liberation movement and led, in time, to all sorts of policy gymnastics by the racists, including the opportunistic notion that sport could be integrated at international but not national or local level. These developments reached directly into Ahmed’s life. According to the school incident book for November 1966 Basil D’Oliveira, the England test cricketer, visited the Roodepoort Indian School to give a demonstration and coach the pupils.
Chief Albert Luthuli, President-General of the ANC, was not the only member of the Congress Alliance who was actively involved in rugby or other sport. Dr Yusuf Dadoo was also absorbed in cricket and was patron of the Witwatersrand Indian Cricket Union. In 1959 the TIC launched a campaign against the proposed visit of Frank Worrell’s West Indies team on the grounds that it would encourage the government’s apartheid policy.
For most people the fact that the Verwoerd government had given its blessing to such a tour was enough for them to see it as hostile to the interests of black people throughout the country. A small section of higher officials of the Indian Cricket Union could not comprehend the significance of this popular revulsion against any form of apartheid, and they spoke about “keeping politics out of sport”, which was the white nationalist cry. To show their resentment, and flying in the face of popular opinion, they deposed Dr Dadoo from the panel of patrons of the Indian Cricket Union (ICU) and in his place appointed Worrell, the captain of the ill-fated team. The New Agenewspaper dated 13 October 1960 reported that
Dr Dadoo was reinstated late in 1960 as a patron of this leading body of non- European sportsmen. By the Seventies and Eighties, the sports boycotts had become indispensable tools of anti-apartheid resistance. Sanctions-busters like West Indian cricketer Alvin Kallicharan were literally spat upon in the streets of their own home countries upon their return there.
During the Fifties considerable progress was made in cricket, soccer, boxing and weightlifting to break down divisions between members of the African, Indian and coloured communities. For example in cricket racial divisions in the South African Cricket Board of Control (SACBOC) were abolished in 1958, after which affiliation was based on area alone. An integrated team from these race groups had already played the touring Kenyan Asians in 1956 and in 1958 South Africa toured East Africa. The outlines were being created for the non-racial sport of a new and democratic South Africa – one that had to wait more than a generation.
Ahmed Timol was among those who fought against apartheid in sport and for non-racial sport in the Fifties and Sixties. This generation of dissent made it possible that, within the space of eight weeks in 1970, South Africa was excluded from the Davis Cup, expelled by the Olympic Movement and rebuffed by the MCC.
By November 1971 – the year of Timol’s death – the United Nations was calling for a boycott of South African sport. When South Africa was increasingly shut out of world sport the local racists came up with silly notions such as the (whites-only) South African Games, which meant playing against no one but themselves.
Ahmed’s main involvement in sporting activism was through the Dynamos Soccer Club, formed at the initiative of Aziz Pahad from a humble beginning in Becker Street, Ferreirastown. The players were mainly from Ferreirastown, Fordsburg, Vrededorp and from Kliptown. For all involved in Dynamos, soccer was their first love. They played it in the streets until early evening. Aziz Pahad was the goalkeeper of the team and Essop Pahad a defender and also the chairman of the club. Dynamos emerged as one of the best teams not only amongst the Indians but also amongst the Africans – although even here apartheid intervened. African teams like Orlando Pirates and Indian teams like Dynamos were not allowed to play against the whites. Dynamos played endless “friendlies” against other teams from other leagues. With each player’s parents paying kombi fares and assisting with the fares of those unable to pay for themselves, the Dynamos team would travel to play in Middelburg, Ermelo and Mafikeng. When they played against Krugersdorp they would go by train and occasionally fights would break out against whites that they encountered on their journey.
Essop Pahad recalls, “We went to Durban accompanied by Ismail Pahad,
‘Archie Boy’ Bhayat (Sampie Essack’s brother) and Cas Saloojee and had meetings with Luchman who was a soccer administrator in Durban. It was here that the first discussions about professional soccer took place in South Africa. When we returned to Johannesburg we contacted Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows football clubs and discussed the issue of professional soccer. Both the clubs agreed to participate.”
Dynamos could not play at the Orlando Stadium because the ground was in an African township and it was only for so-called “Bantus”. The Orlando Stadium
and the Natalspruit ground in Doornfontein were the only grounds that were properly fenced off. The Dynamos leadership approached cricket administrators Chummy Mayet and Checker Jassat to use the Natalspruit ground. They agreed on condition that a semi-professional league be formed and that the Dynamos leadership should form another team, drawing on a broader and truly regional talent pool, so as to make a true inter-regional league of it. Thus was born Transvaal United.
Essop recalls, “This was a very difficult moment for us as we were good enough to play for Dynamos but not for Transvaal United. However, in the interests of starting professional soccer we agreed, despite knowing that some of us would not be selected to play for Transvaal United.”
In Durban they had Avalon Athletics and Berea. A team from Cape Town also participated. This is how professional soccer started in South Africa. Among the administrators nobody was paid for their services although, says Essop Pahad, “the players were paid a few pounds”
Dynamos were well known in the Northern Cape as they had played in Vryburg and Mafiking and had beaten the best teams there. Essop jokingly recalls,
“We had beaten the local coloured team in Vryburg. The local coloureds kept on saying that we Indians could only play cricket and not play soccer. People still talk about our beating the coloured soccer team of Vryburg.”
As I can attest, the Dynamos were still going strong two decades later. I played soccer for Standerton Dynamos in the Eighties while I was still attending high school. We would play against other towns such as Ermelo, Nelspruit, Barberton, Middelburg, Piet Retief and Kinross on a home and away basis. We would make arrangements with taxi operators from the African or coloured areas who would transport us when we played away from Standerton. Our parents would pay our kombi fares. Rivalry at these games was intense and fights would regularly break out amongst supporters and players.
I also played cricket for Standerton from my high school days. We also played against other towns, as we did in soccer. Again, tensions would run high during these games and would occasionally result in fights breaking out. The opposition from the other towns included family members. While the game, whether soccer or cricket, was played all family loyalties were put aside and the game came first.
But after the game, in most cases, differences were put aside and the opposition team was always invited by the hosts for snacks after a soccer game or for lunch during a cricket game.
Essop Pahad spoke at the Multi-Purpose Community Centre in Alexandra Township on 25 February 2004 and reminded the residents of Alex of the time when Dynamos beat Alex Gunners by three goals to two in Alexandra. The champion among African soccer teams in 1961/2 was Homekillers from Kliptown.
Essop recalls: “We played Homekillers in Kliptown. The ground was full of African supporters. Before the game young African boys would come up to us and taunt us by saying that we Indians were so thin – how could we play soccer? Many Africans placed their wages, betting that Dynamos was going to lose. We beat them by three goals to two. I was playing at right-back.”
In Becker Street, Ferreirastown, there was another well known soccer team, Young Tigers, led by Ebrahim Adams. Dynamos and Young Tigers took the initiative to form a summer league.
The games were played at the Chinese Grounds in Ferreirastown. This league started without any money. Officials were elected and they would meet weekly to draw up the fixtures. Essop Pahad recalls, “The Summer League became the most popular Sunday League amongst the Indians and coloureds. The best footballers would play in this league. There was Siva from Germiston, who was a great football player, Walter Ntombi from Blackpool, our own Bonke Ndamase from Dynamos – probably the best left-back that South Africa has ever produced. Competition was fierce amongst Dynamos and Young Tigers, who both came from Becker Street. We did this because of our total commitment to soccer and we did this without any financial assistance. We had a league running as well as a knockout tournament.
The mineworkers would take off on Sundays to watch Dynamos play.”
The arbitrary racial divisions between soccer leagues made for some entertaining anecdotes. Essop Pahad recalls, “Aboobakr Saloojee and I played for a team in the Coloured League. We took on coloured names but everybody knew who we were. Dynamos were the first to break the colour barrier. We were not playing in a league but we played friendlies in Meadowlands, Soweto, and beat (African team) Young Zebras by four goals to one. We were once again taunted by young Africans before the game who commented that we coolies can’t play soccer.
After beating them, they would say you coolies can play soccer.” This was how Dynamos became a household name.
Motherwell was by far the best team in the Coloured League. They played at the Vrededorp grounds. The top South African player, Hashim Rusdien, played for Motherwell. Essop recalls, “We beat them on their own grounds. All the Indians from Vrededorp could not stop congratulating us as they mentioned that this was the first time that they could show their faces as far as soccer was concerned. They would regularly be teased after losing to us on a regular basis.
“We used to train in the evenings at the Natalspruit grounds with no floodlights,” he continues. “There were no dressing rooms to change in. Players would change on the ground or in someone’s car. After attending university we would take a bus or walk to soccer training. After training, we would come back to Ferreirastown in the dark. We would go for runs three or four times a week for 10-20 km around Johannesburg. The training was done in the most difficult conditions and no facilities were available. Timol was involved and this brought Ahmed closer to Aziz and myself and later to my brothers Ismail, Zunaid and Nassim.” Dynamos had a clubhouse in Fordsburg where these relationships grew.
Dynamos was opening to coloureds and Africans. This was a political statement they had made saying that they did not recognise any racial barriers to people playing sports together. They went out of their way to play in the townships and this widened their scopes of contact. Some like Essop Pahad were overtly political. Essop recalls, “When the former head of FIFA, Stanley Rous, visited South Africa I arranged a demonstration outside Jan Smuts Airport (now
Johannesburg International). My photo appeared in the New Agenewspaper with a banner saying: ‘Stanley Rous go home’. He was not welcome in South Africa because we had decided to boycott white sports. Prior to the demand to boycott white sports we would go and watch soccer, rugby and cricket at white grounds and stadiums where the principles of segregation and racial discrimination were strictly applied.
“When we would go and watch Newcastle United playing at the Rand Stadium we would always support the opposition. Whenever we went to the stadiums, we were penned in one section. If one black person had supported the local South African team, he was in trouble. The same applied to the Wanderers Stadium. We would sit on the wooden benches and face the direct afternoon sun.
“When the British Lions came to South Africa in 1955, a young red-haired 18- year-old Irishman, Tony O’Reilly (who now owns the Independent Group of Newspapers), was playing on the wing. In the final minute of the game South Africa scored a try and if they converted it they would have won the test match.
The fullback who took the conversion was Jack van der Schyff. His kick went just wide and South Africa lost the match. We had to put tomato cases on our heads to protect ourselves against the bottles that were hurled towards us. Our joke was that Van der Schyff was coloured and that he deliberately missed the kick. We had to wait inside the stadium after the final whistle was blown as the whites were waiting for us outside.”
Dynamos had a coloured goalkeeper by the name of Schwartz, who came from the East Rand. He was a policeman and reported Essop and Aziz to the Security Branch for breaking their banning orders.
A Dynamos brochure from the Sixties about Junior Dynamos notes: “This team, led and directed by Zunaid Pahad, youngest brother of Ismail Pahad, together with the genial M Bayat, has added lustre and glory to the name of Dynamos. These backstreet youth had more love for soccer than even their daily bread. They gave not a damn where they played as long as they were able to partake in a match, among themselves or against formidable foes. I remember most vividly a hot Sunday afternoon when these youngsters were trespassing on the lawns of the Magistrate’s Court, and this only to play soccer. While the match was in progress a passer-by, seeing that they were young, decided to steal the ball. But, alas, to his detriment because these youngsters were arrested for assault.
“Another incident that I recall is that of one of their potential stars, namely F Dadabhai, ruining his soccer career. They were playing on the street when suddenly he tripped and fell through a plate glass window, severing his wrist. He is unable as yet to make use of the hand. Nonetheless this has not deterred either those arrested or those injured from continuing on the glorious path already blazed by their ancestors on and off the soccer field. Neither has their love for soccer waned in any way. The backstreet soccer still continues, not from lack of competitive soccer but it stems from deep down. Their love for the most celebrated sport in the world still reigns supreme.”
Jo Jo and Ahmed were very poor soccer players but they were seen as good organisers. Accompanied by Ismail and Nassim Pahad and Hamid “Buster”
Bhabha, they were the principal organisers of the first Dynamos Festival. Ismail Pahad, later known as the “Fordsburg Fox”, had taken full control of Dynamos.
This was also the largest amateur soccer tournament ever held in South Africa, in any community. Jo Jo and Ahmed, as organisers of the tournament, used the opportunity to extend their political contacts.
The first soccer tournament held in Roodepoort comprised four teams. Jo Jo and Ahmed had attended various soccer meetings and proposed to increase the number of teams to eight, and to have the tournament over two days. Jo Jo and Ahmed had a dispute with the Roodepoort Football Club.
They boycotted this tournament but planned another. They could not kick a soccer ball to save their lives, but wanted to be soccer organisers and they knew that they had administrative talent. They proceeded to Dynamos supremo Ismail Pahad and made arrangements to use two to three grounds, invite 16 soccer clubs from all over the country and hold the first national amateur soccer tournament.
Ismail Pahad supported this proposal but was not aware of the political angle that Ahmed and Jo Jo had in mind. Influential sportsmen like Chummy Mayet and Rashid Garda were brought on board. No one had ever seen a soccer tournament of this magnitude. Ahmed’s responsibility was to look at potential recruits and he did an excellent job of this. People, supporters, players and administrators from all over the country were present. This provided Jo Jo and Ahmed with a perfect cover to conduct political work.
The Security Branch had not one grain of suspicion about their activities. Jo Jo and Ahmed also had the support of all religious denominations, all ethnic groups and people of all political persuasions. Everyone attended because of their love of the sport. Only after Ahmed’s death did the Security Branch probe Dynamos Football Club. Jo Jo and Ahmed felt that if they could organise a large-scale soccer festival they could set up a political underground network on a national scale. The word Dynamos began to get new meanings and, of course, it could be traced to the famous Moscow club.
Essop Pahad, who to this day is an avid reader of soccer match reports in the newspaper sports pages, recalls, “The Dynamos Football Club allowed new friendships to be formed and flourish. Ahmed joined Dynamos in 1965 just as professional soccer was beginning to take shape within the country. Dynamos took the lead in developing professional soccer and they were instrumental in the emergence of Transvaal United. Dynamos could not play at Orlando Stadium because of apartheid.”
Hamid “Timer” Valley recalls that Ahmed was known as “Tims” (short for Timol) to him and his friends. “Ahmed accepted everybody as his friend,” he said.
Timer played soccer for Dynamos and Ahmed was the secretary of Dynamos Football Club, and they formed a close relationship. The day Roodepoort had its first turf ground was the greatest day in the lives of Timer and all other sports- crazy citizens. There were no sporting facilities available for Indians, and talent had to be developed on the streets. Timer notes, “Dynamos Football Club was the inspiration of Aziz and Essop Pahad. Dynamos made participants aware of racism as the ethos of the club was multi-racialism. This was not just a football club, but