"Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear,
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. "

(Gray’s: Elegy Written in Country Churchyard.)

Moosa Mangera was like the Old Man River - year in and year out - he just kept rolling along.

Moosa Mangera has been one of the most versatile and talented young sportsmen this country has produced. A man with a great deal of energy and stamina, he performed remarkably in cricket, soccer and athletics.
He was a man of Bronze, who would have dazzled at the Olympics.

He played all his life for Crescents Cricket Club. He was a batsman with a great eye for the ball, defending in crisis but capable of a wide range of attacking strokes. He bowled off-spinners and very often kept wickets. As a fielder he was sheer brilliance. I never saw him drop a catch. A match-winner - his presence adorned the game.

Moosa Mangera was born on 8th April 1945. At the age of 14, Jimmy Bulbulia spotted this youngster in street cricket. Moosa was a product of Jimmy Bulbulia. who nursed and nurtured him, and predicted that Moosa would have great expectations.

In 1969 Moosa Mangera went to England, and was offered cricketing and soccer contracts with Somerset C.C and Blackburn Rovers. A knee-injury prevented Moosa from entering the game at a professional level.

In South Africa, Moosa represented Transvaal at cricket and soccer. He scored numerous fifties and bagged many wickets. His fielding was quite sparkling, and his wicket-keeping could be quite audacious.

His cricketing career is not about statistics. There are only flashes and impressions of his versatile genius.

It is sad that he was not able in the international arena to display his capabilities before an admiring world.

Often I saw him play cricket and soccer in Krause Street
, opposite Jimmy's Club and along the wall of the Brixton Cemetery. Even in unrelenting heat or extreme cold, daytime or at night, he and his mates would be seen and heard, playing soccer or cricket, amidst the constant traffic of cars speeding and hooting. Moosa could weave his way thru the cars: it was almost as if he were a bullfighter moving his agile body in perilous circumstances. I believe he would have been a fearless bullfighter or matador. Often I wondered if the dead inside the cemetery mused over the nimble antics of this mercurial young man.

He was dolphin-like; he was Puck and Ariel combined together: he was uncontrollably mischievous and he loved a good laugh.

Moosa continued to take an interest in all sports.
We honour Moosa Mangera for his versatility, for his bravery, for his sportsmanship, and for the joy he gave to others.

He fought a tough battle and wrestled against the recalcitrant ravages of cancer. But alas his body was subject to the mutations of time, and he accepted his mortality which is the common fate of all mankind.

Sportsman, father, and friend: versatile, caring and loyal, Moosa Mangera, the Renaissance man, earns the plaudits and salutes of generations those hours him as a vital link in the humanities of people.

He was a Man for All Seasons.