Greatest of Friends – Cafu Katjimune

KINDLY allow me space in your publication to pay homage to a gentle giant and a great friend known as Cafu Katjimune.

Sadly, this piece will in no way do full justice to this special person. A lot of us who regard Cafu as a close friend or confidante came to know him as a fellow student at Unam around 1995/1996. He was not only a popular socialite, but a dedicated a B-Science student and a top-notch footballer. Football at Unam during the mid-late 90s was of exceptionally high quality and Cafu was without doubt amongst the cream of the crop. He played along the likes of Struggle Ihuhua, Agenda Matongo, Kaya Munyaza, Ike Ndjoze, Eric Khunuxab and Ranga Petrus just to mention a few. In the inter-campus league he played for the two legendary teams namely Cost City and Tough Guys. He managed to be selected as part of the TISAN soccer team that travelled to Johannesburg where had to mark a young and upcoming Sibusiso Zuma who apparently tormented him. However, word has it that in true Cafu style he then resorted to some traits probably only learned in the streets of Orwetoveni in Otjiwarongo to contain Zuma. It was also at Unam where he started to take his refereeing seriously before going on to become Namibia’s best-known referee, a distinction he held till the last day of his life. Furthermore, he was one of the pillars of the original group of people who founded the Unam team that is still in existence till this day and campaign in the National First Division. The man’s passion for the beautiful game had no boundaries and started offering refereeing courses to young and aspiring student referees at Unam.Being a B-Science student at Unam at the time was no mean feat and only about 30 to 40 per cent of the students managed to stay in the Science faculty to complete their studies within the actual four-year target. He was however a committed, hard working student who finished his studies in the required period before going onto the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein where he obtained his Honours degree in Geo-hydrology. He continued his refereeing career while in Bloemfontein and managed to balance international refereeing assignments around the continent with his demanding study schedule. The best of both worlds! Cafu personified the notion of playing hard and studying hard. I believe that he was probably amongst the first five or six black geo-hydrologists that Namibia has produced post-independence. He has since grown from a junior professional in the Agriculture Ministry to being the Chief Geo-hydrologist within a couple of years where he has been involved with a multitude of projects in the Water Sector that has benefited the lives of many a Namibian. He had several opportunities to join the private sector but he always said that he loved serving the public and the country at large (‘mbi ungirira otjiuana mbwae’). Having grown into one of the country’s experts in the Water Management and Supply Sector, I know he represented Namibia on several international Water related Committees such as on the SADC Water Forum and several others which he was quite passionate about. He was thus a committed civil servant and professional who was very knowledgeable and passionate about his career and serving the masses.As a friend, there was never a dull moment when Cafu is around as he was always a happy, free spirited human being with a really huge heart. His greatest quality in my opinion is that he loved people and everyone was always an equal to him from the way he will treat a fellow professional or close friend to some stranger in a little village whom he has just met. This is what he expected of his friends and he always wanted people to simply just get to know each other and expand the circle of friendship. He was indeed the central thread that has kept most of us together as friends for so many years and has continued to enrich our lives by getting us acquainted to more people who have also grown to become friends. Cafu was a gentle, kind, respectful, soft-spoken and humble person who hardly ever got angry but would never allow ‘his people’ to be intimidated or touched. He was extremely loyal especially to his family whom he always put first in whatever he has to do. He knew full well when to draw the line between having fun and getting serious and responsible when it comes to his family and his job. He has touched so many lives and leaves a big void mostly as a father to his young children, but also as a son, brother, relative, colleague, friend, servant of the people and really just a special ‘one of a kind’ person to many. You have left me and others with so many questions my friend, and I always thought we would still share a lot of memories together. You lived a life that was exemplary and certainly worthy to be followed dear friend and those of us you leave behind whose lives you have touched can only try to keep the legacy alive. You were indeed to borrow a phrase ‘a human gem’ and your name and all that you have done will without doubt linger on in our minds for as long we are still privileged to grace this earth. Rest in peace gentle giant and special friend! Heroes are remembered but legends never die, they live on!