Goodbye Wonder Tlape!

'Wonder' was an indisputable football maestro who started mesmerising his opposition in 1967 on the dusty pitches of Serowe when playing for the newly formed Maphatshwa football team. In time, the right-footed lanky front-runner became Maphatshwa’s pillar and strength scoring goals with remarkable ease and making a name for himself with the football fans. At that stage, although still a student at Tshekedi Primary School, he was already a household name in the village.

His father Rre Tlape (Snr) was his greatest cheerleader and it is reported that in cheering him or bragging about his son in matches, his father used to say, "Wonderboy my son, o rutilwe ke mang bolo?", "Mthetho wa Bafana iyoooo!" Rre Tlape (Snr) would make such utterances shaking his head while looking up to the sky and in most cases holding a quencher in one hand and a cigarette in the other.