It’s been a while since I posted on my blog, people have asked when are posting another article and to be honest, I struggled as I believe that I strayed from my original vision for this blog.
Cape Town in Colour is not a blog for tourist looking for the best places to visit, yes we do highlight the beautiful Cape but the essence of this page is about the fabric and culture of Cape Town – the people and what they do, what we do, how we live that makes our people unique.
From pickled fish on Good Friday, koeksusters on a Sunday morning, the diversity of our own families across the lines of religion, colour and culture, our kombuis engels, our love for snoek and yellow tail, our talent at playing sport, our musical talent despite reading the “golf-sticks”, I think you get the picture.
Finally after a lot of heart searching we back, and I believe I have found a perfect way to restart with a tribute from a son to his father.
I know the man personally and can honestly say that this gentleman is one of the most honest and humblest people I know, always greeting you with a hearty smile, a firm handshake and genuine humility despite his numerous accomplishments.
It’s not every day one gets to meet people who have impacted the lives of so many, and in the words of his son Emile, we use this article with kind permission, written last year yet each words still true.
Puzzy Jansen, here’s to you Sir!
Day 124 – 2nd July 2017 – On this day, my personal hero will be 80 years old, still coaching soccer and doing what he loves. Yes, I am speaking about my Dad, Basil Puzzy Jansen. My brother gave me this biography and Interview that shared things with me that I never knew about my Dad before. Note to everyone … We need to all interview our own parents about our family history and achievements.
Amateur Soccer
I started playing for the school at the age of 9 in 1947. At 10 years old joined Perthdales United who playing in the Walmer League without my parents’ permission. All games were played on the Green Point Common on fields belonging to Moltenoes East End Scouts and Sea Point Swifts fields on Saturday mornings.
After the 3rd game my Father saw me playing and came home and told my Mother. I had to answer many questions.
Selected and Captained u/12 – u/14 – u/16 teams for board games – inter – union. At 16 years old joined Hillside Rangers who was affiliated to the Alliance League who played their games at Rosmead off Rosmead Avenue. Played and captained the team for 2 years. Also, represented the Union at Inter-Union matches.
In 1956 joined Ridgeville F.C who also played at Rosmead. After my 1st game for the club was promoted to the 1st team and played there till I left to play for Cape Ramblers Professional Club.
While at Ridgeville represented Alliance at Inter-Union games and was also selected to play for Western Province and twice for South African Coloured Squad in Johannesburg and Cape Town, but never played. Was also a player of the 1st Inter-place Western Province team Captained by Basil D’ Oliveira against Natal Inter-Race.
Professional Soccer
In 1961 I was asked to sign to play professionally for Cape Ramblers, the first professional Soccer Team in Cape Town. In that first year we played friendly games against teams from Johannesburg and Natal. I missed Ramblers 1st trip because I decided to play for Western Province in East London but played in every other game and scored many goals. In the Knockout final against Transvaal United at Green Point Track, we beat them 4-3 and I became the first player to score a hattrick in a professional final in front 30 000+ spectators. The biggest crowd ever seen at a pro final in cape Town.
Norman ‘Jock” Samuels was the coach at Ramblers. He was a Scotchman and we all had a lot of respect for him.
I must say that I learnt a lot from him although most of us were experienced players and had played with and against one another, yet when we started we were put in positions and started, either walking or on a slow trot/ passing the ball around on the instruction of the coach. On many occasions he would tell us to shoot/ finish from various positions. Half-time after we had a drink, the coach would talk to us about what we are going do for the next 45 minutes. We always had a 2nd plan. We scored many goals from corners. People always use to tell me that I only look for Coenie when I kicked a corner-kick, knowing that he would come in and head the ball into the net. But we were told by the coach to kick the ball between the kick-in line and the penalty spot nearer to the spot as no keeper will be able to get to that cross. If we had time to pick a spot, go to his weaker side. If he was right footed, the coach said that the other (left) side he would be weaker.
We had a terrific Team Spirit
Travelling to away games – Combi – Bus. My saddest moment twisting my knee in a friendly against Western Province Union in Maitland.
Never the less many more happy moments than sad ones with people and players that helped me to enjoy the game of soccer that became a big part of my life.
I was approached by many Clubs in Johannesburg and Natal but stayed with Cape Ramblers until the club went defunct.
After the club folded most of us went to play for Glenville who played in the Cape District Union. I then started helping other clubs with coaching. The following year joined Devonshire Rovers A.F.C who also played at Cape District which was nearer to my home. Today I’m life President of the club.
Coaching History
Crusaders football Club ask me to coach and prepare a team for the DÁlberton Callies Tournament in Durban and successfully won the tournament that year.
I applied for a coaching post at Cape Town Spurs and was successful. During my stay as manager/coach, I was the first coach to win the Knock-Out Trophy. Boebie Solomons was part of that team and we also went on to win the league every year during my 3 – year stay at the club.
I went on to manage and coach Lightbody’s Santos Football Club and went on to win the league in our second season. I left after being approached by Cape Town Spurs, who were now playing in the National Soccer League. We struggled mainly due to political reasons and after 2 years I returned to the Western Province Board.
During those years I attended many coaching courses with various instructors namely: Roy Bailey, Willie Hunter, Ian Towers, Frank Lord, Billy Anderson and John Rowley.
I then coached with the Mobil Soccer foundation for 10 years.
I coached Square Hill United for 3 years and helped the team win promotion to the Third Division of the Professional League.
I am a member of SAFA Western Province Junior Committee and help with selection and coaching of various representative teams.
I coached and assisted the U/17 and U/16 in the Coca-Cola National Tournament as well as the U/12 in the National Simba Young Lions Tournament.
Coached the juniors at Seven Stars and when they merged with Cape Town Spurs, I started with Ajax and coached at the Academy for 6 years. Left and coached at Mr Price Parkhurst Academy for 3 years. Assist at Ajax doing the Tiny Tots and scouting for the Club as well as assisting Gordon Witbooi and Melvin Ruiters coach juniors for the Mitchell’s Plain Clinic for Excellence on Sunday mornings. Coached at Bay Hill U/11 for a season.
Since 2013 I signed a contract with Milano United FC to coach U/13. We won the League, Knockout and Build It Tournament. I am presently coaching the U/12 at the Academy this year.
I have also been an Adjudicator for the Metropolitan U/19 Premier Cup for many years.
An Interview with Basil Puzzy Jansen
This is the incredible and inspiring story of one of the firebrands of the beautiful game in South Africa and his stratospheric rise from the days of playing in the cobble streets of Bo-Kaap as a child, to the cauldron of South African soccer.
Basil ”Puzzy” Jansen has not only dealt with Club, Union, Board, Federation and media scrutiny but also with some of South Africa’s finest footballers to hold his own in the game’s elite. This is his story.
Basil was born on 2 July 1937 in Bryant Street Bo-Kaap, near St. Paul’s Primary School. After sharpening and polishing his skills on the cobbled streets in the neighborhood, he joined Perthdales at the age of 10 in the Walmer League, consisting of only juniors – which was started by Mr. Florence who was a well-known undertaker. He got his nickname, Puzzy from his best friend, called Edgar. Basil had called Edgar ”Emmer” and in retaliation, Edgar called him ‘The puzzler because of his close contact with the ball and confusing his opponents with his moves. The name was shortened to Puzzy and it stuck. When he was 16, the family moved to Ravenscraig Road, where he joined Hillsides Rangers and he played in the under 18 team.
He started playing senior soccer for Ridgeville, which was started by the Felix family in the Alliance League. He was a prolific goal scorer and represented Alliance in the Board team, where he became known as the Hattrick’ king.
In 1960, he got the call up to play professional soccer for Cape Ramblers in the South African Soccer League and he stayed with them until they were forced to disband by the Apartheid government. Puzzy got married in 1963. After the Cape Ramblers days, he joined Glenville in the Cape and District Union. He stayed with them for a year and then joined Devonshire Rovers. He is currently the life president of the club.
When Cape Town Spurs started in 1970, the late Don Richards was their first manager, followed by Poenie du Preez. Puzzy became the third manager of Cape Town Spurs. At that time Spurs were owned by the WPFB and when the club became privately owned, Puzzy stayed with them. After numerous successes with Spurs, he joined Santos as their manager. He coached Ajax juniors for 6 years and later became a scout for Ajax Amsterdam. He is currently coaching the under 11 and under 13 for Milano, since the beginning of 2014.
Puzzy is a printer by trade and was a book binder for the City Council
Among the highlights of his playing career was the game against Basil D’Oliveira’s Aerials when Ridgeville beat them 8-0 with Puzzy scoring most of the goals. The other game was when Ridgeville beat Woodsides 8-0 where Puzzy also scored most of the goals. Puzzy was the first player to revolt against his club and the Cape and District Union. Along with his team mates, they forfeited their matches by not turning up for their games in protest against the long standing ”Undesirable Clause”.
In those day many clubs refused to accept Muslims and Blacks because of the Union rules. ”My best friend wanted to join Ridgeville and his application was refused on the grounds of his religion” laments Puzzy. ”So, by defaulting, the other team won the points and Ridgeville was fined heavily”. Ridgeville withdrew the Clause and fought the Union to change the laws and make the game open to all races and religions. The Union withdrew the infamous Claus from their constitution.
Because of his involvement and his unwavering efforts in the sport he loves so dearly, Puzzy was honoured along with other sports people by the Confederation of Africa (CAF) in Cape Town in 2007
Now 78 years old, Puzzy is still actively involved in the beautiful game.
Basil (Puzzy) Jansen will be remembered as a good ambassador of his sport not only as a gentleman but for the magnificent goals he scored, as an outstanding player, a manager and a mentor, who displayed his full skills during his entire soccer career. He is often a guest at major footballing events as well as lending his valuable knowledge as a mentor and a summariser.
Puzzy Jansen, now 78 years old, the former Cape Ramblers legend of the 1960’s and successful manager of Cape Town Spurs, still has the same glint in his eyes, to teach the juniors at Milano FC, as he had during his playing days, where he was the inspiration behind his club and soccer in general, in South Africa.
There are many facts, fallacies and myths, stories of the strange and unusual about Basil ‘Puzzy’ Jansen. In two words, said Uncle Karel:’ Impossible!’
In April 2014, I set out on a 13,000-kilometre journey to seek and sift through the implausible, the improbable, the unlikely and the bizarre – and reveal the facts.
According to Uncle Karel, a good story always works its way to a climax.
The voice on the other side of the line was sweet and melodious, a sort of ‘Hello- oo ….! with a long drawn tag on the end. Emelda Jansen said her husband wasn’t home. He was over at the sports field, coaching the under 11 and under 13 juniors. At 77 years old?!!!. Anyway, long story short, a meeting was arranged at his home in Grassy Park for the Monday. (I took this photo of the couple after I told them the reason for my visit. They found it very amusing)
I came loaded with the 10 questions that was weighed on my mind for nearly 60 years and I came right out with it.
In March and April of 2014, I set out on a fact finding mission to meet some of the legends of South African sport. I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to talk to many of those characters and learn the truth – once and for all – behind the legends that we love to tell and re-tell. I said earlier that you should not let the truth stand in the way of a good story but after meeting them, I’ve changed my mind: the truth can make a good story even better. In conclusion to the 10 questions I set out to ask Puzzy Jansen, I am happy that I, like any other die-hard fan of the beautiful game, who loves remembering old games, old players and the stories that circulate about them, have heard from his own lips the voracity of the oft told tales about him. The answers to the questions are all verbatim ( using exactly the same words). I am well aware that there are many more questions and if we tried, the net, could be spread a little wider than the 10 questions I set out to ask Puzzy Jansen about the moments that made his life so compelling in the game he loves so much. But for me, scanning the history of his sports life, it is the combative, brash, confident ball at his feet, full of colour and flair, aggressive and intimidating deportment and background that makes me happy with my final 10 which represents a Hollywood type personality that seem to thrive on confrontation. Such is his nature. Long may it continue.
Q1.Is it true that your father, although a great player himself, did not want you to play the game?
- Yes it’s true! My father banned me from playing because my clothes were always muddy and dirty when I got home. But that did not stop me from playing. I simply just turned my clothes inside out when playing and I would put it on the right way before I went home. That way, my father could only see the clean outside of my shirt and pants.., you know!
Q2. How did you get your nickname Puzzy?
- Yes man, I had this friend called Edgar. He always used to frustrate me, you know because he used to rugby tackle me when I passed him and out of frustration, I called him ”Emmer”. He then blamed me for wrong footing him and he called me a puzzler. Well, the name stuck and it was later shortened to Puzzy
Q3. Is it true that you once scored 22 goals in a match, thus scoring 7 hat tricks in that game – with the final score being 29-0?
3.Yes, that was the game against St. Augustine’s. In the first half, they were already down by about 7 goals, when their goalkeeper tried to parry a shot of mine over the cross bar but he broke his fingers. His hand was like this you know. Four of his fingers were broken and he had to be taken to the hospital. That was a pile driver. Anyway, he was replaced by Mr. Basil Waterwich, who was an official of their club. He’s dead now. Mr. Waterwich was a great cricket player, you know but every time I took a shot at goal, he had to duck or stand out of the way. The crowd booed him and jeered but Mr. Waterwich responded ”Do you want him to break my fingers too?”. Yes, I scored 22 goals in that game. I think the record still stands and the final score was 29-0. I’ll never forget that game. After that game, I got the call up to play professional soccer for Cape Ramblers
Q4. Is it true that you broke the record set in the 1940’s by the great Harry Ford for the longest kick in the history of the game in the Western Cape?.
- Well, yes and no! Mr. William Herbert always used to tell the story of a remarkable player during the 1940’s and 50’s, by the name of Harry Ford. Mr. Herbert used to say that Harry had the strongest and hardest kick in soccer. Harry would kick the ball from the goal line, all across the field, over the opposite goalie’s post and into the crowd. Anyway, Mr. Herbert arranged a competition every year to see who could equal that feat, you know. I was the only one who could do it. I don’t know if I broke the record, there were many other guys who couldn’t do it but Mr. Herbert was happy. He was clapping his hands.
Puzzy Jansen applies wit and wisdom, focus and passion to his colourful career that took him from the cobble stones of Bryant Street to become one of the beautiful game’s key figures during a record term in South African soccer. His is a personal story of public drama, of loyalty, friendships and contests lost and won – it is above all a down to earth, practical, realistic, sensible story of the accumulation and exercise of a man with a winning culture.
Q5.Is it true that you once scored a hat trick of hat tricks in 3 consecutive matches?
5.There were a few other guys who scored a hat trick of hat tricks but when I did it, it became the talking point among the soccer elite because I must have been the first. I just loved scoring goals, man. I can’t remember if there was ever a game that I didn’t score a goal. I also can’t remember now who the 3 teams were that we played against but yes, that’s true. I scored a lot of hat tricks
Q6. Is it true that you knocked out cold the great Frankie Smith when he tried to head away a free kick taken by you?
- Yes, that was the game against Woodsides. Frankie Smith was their captain and one of the great players of that time, you know. That was a game I did not enjoy. Frankie Smith was one of the first Coloured players to play for South Africa. Woodsides had won the Maggot Trophy the year before and they were a tough side to beat. The ambulance only came after the game was finished. I can’t remember how many goals I scored because I struggled to stay focused. I kept on looking at the sideline where they were working on him to see if he was moving. Man, we got a free kick in the area, those were still the days of that hard leather balls, you know that we use to polish with dubbin. I took the free kick. Frankie rose high to head the ball away and by the time he hit the ground, he was already out cold. No, he didn’t stay in a coma for weeks, where do you come onto that. I went to visit him at hospital the night and he was alright
Q7. Is it true that on your wedding day in 1963, you and Emelda went straight from church to the game between Cape Ramblers and Transvaal United, to watch the boys play at Green Point Common?
- No! That’s not true. Where did you hear that? On my wedding day? Ramblers were playing Lincoln City, not Transvaal. Lincoln played to a plan to shut me out of the game. They were going to take me out but I didn’t play, so they put Colin van der Watt in as my replacement. I tell you they gave Colin a working over that day. Colin was stretchered off unconscious but because there were no subs at that time man, he had to come back on to finish the game. The brains trust of the team worked out a three point move and the move worked out three times, bang bang bang and Colin scored a hat trick. All the boys came to the wedding reception that night but no what. we didn’t go straight from church to go watch them play. I don’t know what the 3 point move was, that you will have to ask Colin when you get back to Australia.
Q8.Is it true that you once scored 8 goals twice in consecutive matches?
- Yes, that did happen. The first time was against Aerials. They had won the Maggot trophy the year before hey. I scored 8 goals against them. Basil D’Oliveira was their captain still. I went round to Basil’s house the next morning and his wife told me that Basil was still sick. She told me that they always went to bioscope every Saturday night but Basil did not feel like going and that was the first time they didn’t go to bioscope. Aerials had never been beaten like that before. But Basil shook my hand and congratulated me. The second time was against Woodsides where I also scored 8 goals.
Q9. Was it against the great Basil D’Oliveira’s Aerials and against the great Ivan Dagnin’s Woodsides?
- No, Basil and Ivan both played for Aerials at that time. The game against Woodsides, Ivan wasn’t in that team.
- Is it true that you were the first sports revolutionary when you rebelled against your club and the WPFB, to amend a clause in their constitutions?
- Yes, that was a sad time. One of my best friends was Muslim, man and he wanted to come and join our team, you know but the club didn’t want to accept him because of his religion. It wasn’t nice, man. So, me and the rest of the Ridgeville team decided that we are not going to turn up for our games. The Board fined them heavily. We did it again the next week and again the club was fined but they didn’t want to give in, This went on for a few weeks and the club said they were going to take it up with the Board. The Board didn’t want to give in but our club changed that clause in our constitution. I don’t know how long it went on for but it was a big thing I don’t like to think of that time but yes, that was a bad time in our history. I was called all kinds of names and yes one of them was I was a revolutionary. Eventually, when the other sports bodies like baseball started making a noise about it you know, that clause was changed by the Board. After that we saw the new dawning in all sports and it has now become part of our folklore.
‘That concludes the interview with Puzzy Jansen. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Next time we will do the verbatim stories of all the remaining Cape Ramblers legends and some of their wives about how professional soccer shaped their lives when it first started in Cape Town. Very interesting!’
Basil ”Puzzy” Jansen being honoured with other sports legends of South Africa by The Confederation Of Africa (CFA) 50 Year Jubilee For Achievements over 50 years 2007
Sanlam Award for Outstanding & Dedicated Service to Junior Soccer in the Western Cape 1995
Devonshire Rovers Appreciation Award 2001
Santos Honorary Membership Award 2005
Ministry of Sports and Recreation Western Cape – Honouring Veterans Award 1996
Western Cape Annual Sports Awards – Lifetime Achievement Award 2003
SASCOC Award of Service to Football in South Africa 2014
Metropolitan U/19 Premier Cup Adjudicators Award 2007 -2015
Cape Town in Colour 