Jomo Sono

Sono was born in Soweto, South Africa. When he was eight years old, his father Eric Bhamuza Sono, who was a midfielder for the Orlando Pirates football team in the early 1960s, died as a result of a car crash. Soon after, his mother abandoned him. Consequently, Sono was left in the care of his ailing grandparents; as they were very poor, he had to resort to selling apples and peanuts at football games and train stations to clothe himself, buy food for his grandparents and pay school fees. Both his grandparents were born in the then Northern Transvaal at Valdezia village outside Makhado in Limpopo Province. Sono's football career had an unusual beginning; during a match that he attended one of the Orlando Pirates' regular players was absent and Sono was requested to stand in for him. He soon gained fame for his all-round ability, dribbling and accurate passing skills. It was during this time that he was given the nickname of Jomo (which means "burning spear") by an Orlando Pirates fan, who saw in him the same leadership qualities as those of Jomo Kenyatta, the then president of Kenya. In 1979, Sono left his wedding in a hurry to join a game where the Pirates were trailing by two goals. He managed to create three goals and score one for himself, turning the game into a 4-3 victory for the Pirates, and then headed back to his wedding reception. After he had accomplished everything that he set out to do at Orlando Pirates, Sono went to the United States of America, where, in…

He is married and has four children, including the South Africa national football team member Bamuza Sono, and his second son Matsilela Junior played for Jomo Cosmos.

Sono was voted 49th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004. In December 2016, Sono received two doctorates from the University of London and the University of Dubai for his contribution to football and business. Upon receiving the two doctorates he said: "To me this is the greatest achievement. People say it’s from outside [the doctorates], I don’t think it’s from outside. I think it’s from the world because the University of London is one of the biggest and the commonwealth university is one of the biggest."