“Dlala Mdlali!”

This is the call to action by Umjaka to his peers as he inspires them to not just stay in this game of life but to be active participants in it.

Umjaka, born Sizwe Jacques Mbebe. is a continual entrepreneur; football blogger; content strategist and media junkie who based in Cape Town, South Africa. The term “Dynamite comes in small packages” is the embodiment of Umjaka who has become a creative force of nature within the football and media space. As a self-professed off-the-field player, Umjaka is also fondly known as “Umdlali”.

Having been schooled at the German International School in Cape Town and playing youth football in Germany for SV Werder Bremen and Altona 93, Umjaka has German culture running through the tapestry of his life! His absorption of the culture has led to him being able to speak German fluently, ultimately rendering him as trilingual; speaking IsiXhosa, English and German.

At the age of 17, Umjaka traded his dream of playing professional football for a career as a journalist and he has since grown to be a renowned content specialist and thought leader in the industry. Primedia Online and Ndalo

Media are just two media corporations where Umjaka had collated a wealth of experience from the innovation wherewithal.

Umjaka has been adherent to his passions by launching start-up publications Kasi Life magazine and Tavern Times newspaper as well his own content agency called Erhangeni Creatives. It is through these media that he supplies creative and marketable content.

Umjaka was already a full-time blogger before blogging was identified as a career choice in South Africa! Because he saw ahead of the curve, Umjaka scored a highlight gig as the Nike Football blogger for Africa, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He has been pivotal in moulding how the South African Premier Soccer League clubs communicated with fans by creating, building and managing digital platforms for Ajax Cape Town and Moroka Swallows.

Because of his position in the field, Umjaka has been invited to share his experiences on various platforms, which resulted in him being an accomplished MC and host. With the most of milestone events and conferences. Most notably for Umjaka’s career was the launch of Cape Town City Football Club and interviewing Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp at a fundraiser in Hout Bay, Cape Town.

At present, Umjaka is the founder and host of Diski Nites; a monthly LIVE interactive football/soccer show which features SA’s top football/soccer personalities such as Bafana Bafana legends Edward Motale, Matthew Booth, Thabo and Thando Mngomeni, as well as Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis. Umjaka has also been known to have comedian Loyiso Gola just to spice things up a bit!

He has a weekly column called Diski Business published in the Western Cape’s best selling daily newspaper the Daily Voice and has a blog dubbed umjaka.com. Umjaka also contributes on all matters football, weekly, on The Late Show with Loonie Lately on Good Hope FM and Cape Talk’s Tonight with Lester Kiewit.

It is Umjaka’s offering of a balanced mix of wit and extensive football knowledge that keeps the audience engaged which has ensured that the is on all these numerous platforms.