The Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Dr. Patrice Motsepe says they are not aiming to be known as a football family when asked about the success of his son Thlopie as he paid homage to those who’ve achieved more for South African football.
Motsepe, after donating R150-million via the Motsepe Foundation with his wife Precious Moloi-Motsepe to School Sports and Music was in a jovial mood when addressing the media after the event.
He touched on a variety of topics but when it came to his successor, Chairman Thlopie Motsepe at Mamelodi Sundowns, he was reluctant to directly answer the question as he looks to remain impartial as the leader of African football.
“We love football and we’re passionate about football but it’s not the significant part and should not be the significant part of what our focus of our family is, our focus should be on the poor, unemployed, the marginalised, because they need to have a future,” Motsepe said when asked about Thlopie taking over as Chairman of Sundowns.
“I mean this very seriously because if they have a future, Thlophie and they have a future. We are old, so I’m just saying football does not and should not classify, or be what the Motsepe family is known for.
“There are others who have made much bigger contributions, I mean Kaizer Motaung, he’s made huge contributions, we don’t come anywhere near the immense contributions and sacrifices he’s made for South African football and Kaizer Chiefs. Dr Ivrin Khoza has also made incredible contributions.
“But what I’m trying to get at, is that the Motsepe family should not be equated to football… there are other families [that should be mentioned]. If you look at the Motsepe family, my father was my inspiration, and he succeeded immensely and so did my mother.”
The mining magnate went on to state that there are other names and global superstars that should be associated with football but they would like to be known as a family that supported the growth of the country and helped those outcasted by the system.
“Lionel Messi and others equal football, I want us to avoid thinking that the Motsepe family equals football. We love football, we’re passionate about football, and we love music and other things but our family’s primary focus is on other things,” he explained.
“You can’t have football growth and success in a country of poverty and unemployment – of course, I’m not saying… we don’t have things to be confident and proud of as a country but to answer all the questions about football… but it’s not the identity of the Motsepe family.
“It has to be about philanthropy it has to be about the duty to give hope [to others], the unemployed, the poor, the marginalized and that’s our focus. When they write my obituary they won’t say I was the President of CAF, all those issues are of secondary importance.”
Motsepe suggested – which was the core message behind the School Sports investments – that the growth of people can be done through sport and that investing at grassroots level is a way of changing the livelihoods of millions of South Africans living in abject poverty.
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“It can’t be [a case of] this man was successful but what did he do for those who weren’t as fortunate and privileged as he was – that’s the test, and why we went into football, we see it as a tool and instrument. And this is part of the message on the African continent,” he added.
“If you look at the most successful football nations in the world, those are the countries with opportunities, education, resources, and skills, where people’s standards of living are improving and increasing.”
R30-million will be pumped into the project that is set out to support boys and girls in primary and secondary schools across the country over the next five years.
