Provincial funeral for former Bafana coach Clive Barker on Thursday

Legendary former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker will have a provincial funeral and a national coaching programme named in his honour.

Barker died in a Durban hospital on Saturday at the age of 78 after a “brave battle with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD)” according to a family statement. He will be laid to rest in a provincial burial in Durban on Thursday, according to his son and family spokesperson John Barker.

“There will be also be a memorial [service] for the public to celebrate and get to say goodbye to my father. We were just having the discussion about it this morning [Monday], so we will have the venue by this afternoon,” said Barker.

Sports minister Zizi Kodwa confirmed the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government was finalising plans for a provincial burial with the office of the president.

“It will be a provincial burial. There are processes that must be followed in terms of the law and policy. We needed to have the consent of the family, first — and now that we’ve got it, the province is making sure it reaches the office of the president. I think by the end of today it should be delivered.”

Kodwa was speaking after a delegation of sporting officials visited the Barker family home in Glenwood, Durban, on Monday. The group also included South Africa Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan and former Bafana Bafana captain Neil Tovey.

Kodwa said Barker is one person who should be celebrated for his role in lifting the spirits of South Africans during the infancy years of democracy as the Bafana Bafana coach.

“He is one person who fought against discrimination while he was playing for Durban City, particularly protecting the vulnerable black players,” he said.

“He is also the one coach who was fortunate to have a pool of talent to choose from. He had a team that reflected the true South African diversity, one of the best nonracial teams was a team that was selected by the departed coach.”

Jordaan noted Barker’s legendary “Aeroplane celebration” where he would sprint on the touchline with his arms spread out in a wing-like position whenever Bafana scored a goal.

“Clive Barker would always, in matches, show his wings and fly and now he took his final flight away from us. Clive has wings and we want to remind the family that he has made a huge contribution,” he said.

Tovey has often been called Barker’s most trusted lieutenant in football, having been coached by him from his amateur days up to professional level at both club and national team. Barker also trusted him with the national captaincy for the 1996 team that won the country’s only continental title.

He described Barker as a “special coach” and a “wonderful man” who would want them to keep working towards raising the game to greater heights.

Tovey praised Barker for his relationships with the people he worked with and for always creating a conducive environment for players to perform at their best, which he said paid dividends for the teams he coached.

“You can have all the talent in the world but you have to be in a special environment to perform and Clive made it a really wonderful occasion to come to camp and play for your country. That is why the class of 1996 performed — because they were given the freedom to perform,” he said.

Despite his success as a club coach for teams like AmaZulu — who have not won a trophy since he led them to the inaugural Coca-Cola Cup in 1992 — and the national team, Tovey still feels that Barker was somehow underrated.

“He was a player’s coach and a very special man who was sometimes not given enough credit for his knowledge of the game. We all know his motivation [skills] was beyond his years, but he was also a really astute tactical coach. You don’t win the Afcon by just putting the team together to go and play — you have to know the environment and the team you’re playing against,” he said.

“I was fortunate to be with him at Durban City in 1981, where we first won the league championship. So everywhere he’s been, his touch has been gold — and I’m happy he’s at peace.”

Barker famously led the Bafana Bafana to their only continental title in 1996 and qualified the team for its first Fifa World Cup, before resigning before the tournament. He also won three league titles and numerous cups at club level in his 40-year career as a coach, which included coaching in townships when the apartheid regulations forbade it.

Jordaan said it may be difficult to have the latest Bafana Bafana squad attend Barker’s memorial since they have a game against Morocco on Saturday but confirmed that there will be a farewell message before the match.

“Bafana has a match against Morocco this Saturday and we will get Banyana Banyana, who are in their way to the World Cup, to come and share with the people in that stadium a farewell message to Clive Barker and express our appreciation and condolences to the family. Remember, Clive Barker also helped us to qualify for our first World Cup in 1998,” he said.

Safa is also looking to name the national coaching development programme after Barker to celebrate his achievements, said Jordaan.

“On Saturday we put a proposal before our national executive [committee] to call the coaching development programme of South Africa the Clive Barker coaching programme. That will inspire many coaches to achieve what he has achieved. We want to give recognition to that.”

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