These days, Deon Hotto spends his time planning how to evade opposing defenders, but over a decade ago, that time and effort went into avoiding the authorities as he revealed the details of how he ended up in prison.
Orlando Pirates' venture into matters off the field via their Bucs Camp Documentary has seen the unraveling of some unprecedented behind-the-scenes stories.
From Paseka Mako's injury, to Siyabonga Mpontshane losing his son and Vincent Pule's hijacking ordeal - more and more stories have emerged from the Buccaneers' dressing room.
One of the latest was that of marauding winger Deon Hotto, who after having dropped out of school pursued a life of petty crime that would eventually see him spending four months in prison - just one year before discovering his big break.
"I'm the last born of six siblings. My mother passed away in 1999. So my father took us all in and he was actually [like] our mother. So yeah, just my father is still alive. My father was a bus driver for Rossing uranium mine and he did manage to give us a decent life. I dropped out of Grade 10, when I left school, I started hustling, selling sweets, chocolates, chips. But I was hanging out with bad influence friends who were all doing the same S$*t. We used to grab people's phones during nighttime, breaking into cars, up to a point where I went to prison for four months in 2012. I remember that night we took a guy's phone, and we ran. [It was] so funny a lady who stays two houses behind us said to me that night, 'Everything you do in the night will come out in the day'," he explained.
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"You won't believe but the next morning the cops showed up to our house and they said they were looking for Deon. When I got into the cells, I saw my other friends were there as well. While I was in prison, I always remember that lady saying (how) it doesn't matter what you do in the night, it comes out during the day."
Hotto also recalled how he was accidentally discovered by Lamontville Golden Arrows, who had cast their eye on another player, though as fate would have it, they ended up signing the speedster.
"When I came out of prison. My father said 'no', he's gonna send me to the capital city with his brother? I went to live in Windhoek with my uncle. A cousin of mine came to me and he said to me how we're having a 'Kasi' tournament and so I went to play. I was fortunate, one of the biggest teams in Namibia, their manager was there. He saw me playing the tournament. He said 'no', he wants to sign me, so for me, that's where everything changed in 2013. I got a national team call-up and Sis' Mato Madlala sent her daughter to come and watch a player called Hendrick Soaeb so that player was injured, so the national team coach called me in because the guy was injured, and I got the nod to start. When I started the game I did a great game. Nonceba [Madlala] asked the national team coach who the player is wearing [the] number 11. That's where everything changed. I came to South Africa to Golden Arrows in 2014. My career started at Golden Arrows, after Golden Arrows I went to [Bloemfontein] Celtic and after that I went to [Bidvest] Wits and then I ended up at Orlando Pirates where enjoying my football. So for me, it was a privilege to sign a contract with Orlando Pirates. It was like a dream come true," he said.
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