Ramajoe is from Bophelong in Sedibeng, the same tiny township that has produced some of the finest professional soccer players and football administrators.
In an exclusive interview with Sedibeng Ster Sport, Ramajoe said that he believes it was God miracles for him to work for SAFA which is the custodian of South African football. Ramajoe was recently appointed as the Bafana Bafana team manager, replacing long serving team manager, Barney Kujane. He told Sedibeng Ster Sport that never in his lifetime did he dream of working for SAFA until he was approached by the former SAFA President Dr Molefi Oliphant who happened to come from the same area of Bophelong.
To make this interview more interesting, Ramajoe said he does not even remember if he applied for the job at SAFA. Ramajoe says his amazing journey started on a Sunday afternoon when he came back from work and one of the neighborhood boys came to his place to tell him that Mojo Seholoba, who was Bafana Bafana kit manager then, was looking for him.
He said when he got there he found Seholoba with Ntate Oliphant, who introduced them and the next thing he was invited to SAFA Headquarters at FNB Stadium.
Ramajoe said he was supposed to sign a full time contract but Dennis Mumble who was General Manager by then, told him they were looking for someone they can recommend to the University of Johannesburg formerly Rand Afrikaans University to study Sports Management for three years.
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However, Ramajoe said even though this was not what he wanted, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
He was hired full time as a SAFA Logistics Officer after he completed his Sports Management studies, even though this was not what he wanted.
But this was not long before he was appointed as the Bafana Bafana acting Team Administrator by former SAFA CEO Sipho Nkumane, who was also Bafana Bafana Team Manager by then. This was in preparation for the Confederation Cup and 2010 World Cup hosted successfully by South African.
However, Ramajoe’s rise to stardom or powerful position was when he was appointed as the Bafana Bafana assistant Team Manager.
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“The way things happened for me it was blessings from God because I never showed any interest to work at SAFA nor applied for the job. Everything’s happened very quickly and the next thing I was part of this successful organisation working with the most experienced administrators, coaches and great players.”
“I still remember I was scared to meet former Bafana Bafana Coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, because everyone was talking about him, and his success as a coach. It took me three months to meet him and I told Mr Oliphant and Mr Nkumane that I was afraid to meet the man because of his status in the world football, but Parreira was happy to work with me and I had a great working relationship with him until he left SAFA. I must say football was the last thing in my mind because I wanted to be a lawyer after I finished my matric but look where I ended up. But I had opportunity to study and as we speak I’m a qualified lawyer.”
To add feathers to his hat, Ramajoe is the first and only team manager who has been in four World Cups with Bafana Bafana, Banyana Banyana and National U/20 Team in two occasions. He was was also at the Olympics with SA U/23 National Team. He told Sedibeng Ster Sport that these are some of the achievements he will take with to his grave.
Ramajoe said apart from football he is persuading his calling to be a Reverend. He said his mission is to serve God by fulfilling his calling. At the moment he is studying Theology and he is very passionate about being a Reverend.
