Businessman Patrice Motsepe has firmly rejected speculation that he might serve on the board of the new South African Football Association (Safa) commercial wing.
The independent body, once it is up and running, will be run by businesspeople, the Premier Soccer League and Safa officials. It will, in essence, administer the country’s national teams, particularly Bafana Bafana. However, there are concerns that it will take time to assemble the new structure because of the politicking.
Speaking at a Sundowns media conference on Wednesday about the team’s league showdown at the weekend, Motsepe first said he would not entertain questions about the commercial wing of Safa and then unwittingly gave a glimpse into his feelings about the new structure when he said he is a busy man who holds many positions in different companies.
”I am chairman of Harmony which employs about 30 000 to 40 000 people, Arm employs about 6 000 people … I still spend a lot of time at Sundowns — that was not the intention. I have a lot of other responsibilities. There are a lot of things we are doing to relieve me so I can attend to other obligations. It’s impossible I do all of this,” he said.
Motsepe says he wants to find a strong CEO to run the club so that he won’t have to deal with administration issues. Former CEO Peter Manda was redeployed back to the mining industry less than a year ago.
Motsepe’s response to a question on whether he would take up a position in the commercial wing was: ”That is a serious matter; there are time constraints. My contribution I will deal with it at the right time. I am bound by confidentiality, you cannot expect me to comment on that.”
However, those close to the mining tycoon say he has categorically ruled himself out of participation on the envisaged 12-member board of directors. Among other reasons they cite for his reluctance is that they say he fears being associated with failure.
”He does not want to be involved in the politics of Safa and also he is scared because of the association’s track record of failure. He wants to work from a comfortable position that allows him to be in control of what is happening,” said one of his associates.
Motsepe was distressed by the unprofessional way Safa had handled the whole issue of getting independent businesspeople to serve on the board. ”He was not happy that his name was in the press before he was approached,” said the associate.
Others say Motsepe does not see his role in football as an administrator. He wants to keep his contribution to developing football at grassroots level. They say he wants to use Sundowns as a base from which to produce quality players who will hopefully flood the national squad age groups.
Motsepe played down suggestions that Irvin Khoza, chairperson of Sundown’s opponents on Saturday, Orlando Pirates, had deliberately snubbed him by sending general manager Phil Setshedi to the conference. Setshedi said his boss had asked him to attend in his place because he had other things to do.
The Mail & Guardian reported last week that Premier Soccer League officials were trying to prevent Motsepe and Saki Macozoma from joing the commercial company’s board, which they want Khoza to chair.
On Wednesday, Motsepe asked Setshedi to ”pass on my regards to Irvin”.