Born 20 October 1942, in Sobantu Village, Pietermaritzburg, Michael Dlamini played amateur league for Sobantu Manchester and in the professional league for Maritzburg City. He went onto win the Professional Federation League.
He joined the Natal Pick XI under unusual circumstances – Orlando Pirates played against Maritzburg City in their official league game in Pietermaritzburg. The subsequent Orlando Pirates friendly game was played against the Natal Pick XI in eMsizini (Durban) in which Dlamini scored a hat-trick resulting in a Maritzburg City victory of 4-1. The selectors immediately included him in the already selected Natal XI because of this performance.
Dlamini ent on to play for Kaizer chiefs. He scored many great goals for Kaizer Chiefs and in one particular season achieved an amazing feat of scoring 13 hat-tricks! At Chiefs he was affectionately known as ‘Monkey Jive’ because of his amazing dribbling skills. After leaving the Soweto giants, Kaizer Chiefs, Dlamini returned to Maritzburg City and helped to promote it to the first division after only one season. He moved to African Wanderers and again helped promote the team to the first division after just one season.
He was involved with Lawrence ‘Big Bear’ Ngubane as a player coach. Dlamini won the league with Bush Bucks in 1984 and was assistant coach to Clive Barker. He also coached Durban Bush Bucks and won the John Player Special (JPS) in 1987. Dlamini joined AmaZulu in 1989 and coached the likes of Neil and Mark Tovey and Gordon Igesund. He took the team from 17th to 9th on the log. In the 1990/1991 season, Dlamini coached the team to a Bob Save final, who unfortunately lost to Jomo Cosmos. Dlamini has also coached the likes of Moroka Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs. He was involved with the development of future soccer stars.
He passed away in June 2017 after tragically suffering from stroke.