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Starting out as an assistant, Bafana’s Levy Ramajoe has risen through the ranks at Safa
When Bafana Bafana team manager Barney Kujane retired shortly after the Afcon in Egypt in July, it was obvious who should succeed the veteran administrator.
Safa looked no further than Levy Ramajoe, whose recent appointment appears to be more like a return on an investment than anything else.
The 46-year-old, who hails from Bophelong township in the Vaal, is one of the federation’s longest-serving members, having come from humble beginnings as a quality controller at a steel factory.
Called to join Safa, he rose through the ranks to become the federation’s go-to man.
The vast experience in administration that Ramajoe has garnered over the years enabled him to pull off one of the most complex logistics arrangements with regard to his charges, Bafana Bafana.
The team had to face Ghana away and Sudan at home in the space of four days, both games 2021 Afcon qualifiers.
His job seems like a nice-to-have, but Ramajoe was quick to offer a reality check: “Team managers never get to sleep during the camps,” he said.
“The unexpected just mushrooms. Team managers are responsible for the logistics, and it isn’t easy when you play away,” he told City Press from Ghana this week.
Ramajoe added that he also had a back-up plan in place to help the team avoid from being affected by the current strike at national airline SAA, which ironically is Safa’s official airline partner.
The team still flew back in the country on Friday as planned to prepare for their qualifier against Sudan, which takes place in Soweto today.
“At least with Bafana, we are dealing with professionals who easily comprehend the situation. We conduct team arrival meetings to brief them about the expectations and the conditions of whichever country they are visiting,” said Ramajoe.
“I came to Accra three weeks ago to do a facility inspection. I had already arranged the hotel and transportation for the team. But, two days after I had touched down back on home soil, the Ghana Football Association said they had moved the match to the Cape Coast Sports Stadium, which is about a 180km drive from Accra. There is no airport at the Cape Coast and the roads are not the best quality.
“Imagine! It was difficult for me to get there, and my worry was that the team would have to take the same route to the Cape Coast when they landed. But I pulled it off.”
Bafana left immediately after their game against the Ghanaians on Thursday for a hotel located closer to the airport in Accra so that they could be on time to catch their 9am flight back to South Africa on Friday.
“I still don’t get [CAF’s] logic behind staging the matches so close to each other, because the current Fifa international window started last Monday and only finishes this coming Tuesday,” said Ramajoe, adding that he had experienced the worst of it while he was part of the junior national teams.
Believing his role as team manager of Bafana to be a calling, he recalled the moment that changed his fortunes.
It was at the beginning of 2000 when he got a call: “I had come home from my job at a factory, where I worked as quality controller, and received a call from the late Bafana kitman Mojo Seholoba, who asked me to be his assistant.”
A meeting with Safa’s then general manager, Dennis Mumble, opened up opportunities for Ramajoe as the federation also undertook to fund his education.
“Mr Mumble suggested that I go to school. I enrolled for a sports management course at the University of Johannesburg.”
While studying, Ramajoe still had the privilege of working as Bafana’s assistant kitman, travelling with the team locally and abroad.
On completing his studies, he was offered a permanent job as the logistics officer.
“After three years, I was moved to Safa’s provincial affairs department. But I have always believed that I belong to the national team, and I was not surprised when I was moved to Bafana later on to serve as team administrator, given that I had previously worked with the national Under-23 squad.”
Ramajoe has been involved in many major projects, including the Fifa Confederation Cup in 2009 and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
He has also notched up valuable experience as team manager in countless Afcon tournaments, including those involving Banyana Banyana and the Under-23s.
“During my time with the junior teams, I went to four World Cups – because each time our teams qualified for major tournaments, I was always the go-to man.”
Ramajoe, who is a prospective attorney (he has to complete his articles before qualifying), was the manager of the Under-17 women’s team that participated in the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Uruguay last year.
He also oversaw the Under-20 team at both the Fifa 2017 championships in South Korea and at this year’s tournament in Poland.
But being a globetrotter takes its toll on the married father of two, who has three other children from a previous relationship.
“My family, especially the kids, always miss me. It was my daughter’s birthday on Monday, but I was out of the country and unable to spend the day with her,” said Ramajoe sadly.
His spirits lift when talking about his church, United Reformed in Vanderbijlpark, and his ambitions to become a pastor one day.
He has already laid the path to the pulpit, thanks to his part-time studies in theology at the University of Potchefstroom in North West.
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