Olympic team under a woman’s wing

If any of the 150-strong Olympic team take to the competition halls, pools and fields in Athens feeling they are on their own, they obviously have not met their chef de mission, Hajera Kajee.

Kajee is the first female to take up the all-important task of looking after the Olympic flock for the two-week lead-up and the two weeks of the games. She is a no-nonsense, tough nut whose blood flows with sport.

She was almost born to the task of sports administration, coming through the ranks from a table tennis background in the Eastern Cape.

‘I love the game. I think I played it well, making it to the provincial team but never getting to play. I guess they must have thought I was better at administration than playing.”

Kajee is a born rebel — manifested in her strict Orthodox Muslim upbringing that in the end put paid to her short marriage.

‘My mother used to make me cook and I rebelled almost out of principle. My job as an administrator does not give me any time for a permanent relationship. I guess you could say I am married to the sport.”

Born a Minty, she picked up the struggle early in life and regularly paid the price for her relationship with her brother Abdul, who was a thorn in the government’s side while in exile.

‘The wheel has turned for us; Abdul came back to South Africa after the election and is now the deputy director general of foreign affairs in Pretoria. Every time the BOSS [Bureau of State Security] thought Abdul was involved in something we would get harassed. The three o’clock knock on the door was nothing new to the family.”

Kajee’s apprenticeship in the sports trade comes not only from her table tennis background. She is also the sports representative on the National Olympic Committee of South Africa (Nocsa) Exco. Her diligence landed her the GM job for the 1998 All Africa Games and the deputy chef de mission post in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. With these credentials, it is no surprise she was elected vice-president of Nocsa.

Unlike many other sports administrators, Kajee does not see herself as a star.

‘I am trying to be more patient. I am basically a get-it-done person, regardless of what happens. My strength is my ability to listen, my diplomacy and empathy with the athletes. In my book, they are the stars of the show, not me.”

Kajee does not expect to see too much of the games as she and her five staff members will be hard at work behind the scenes, keeping the team on the field of play.

‘This year the team seems more balanced and mature than in Sydney. There will be days when the tension is high, we must just ensure that they have all the support we can give them and not get in their way.”