‘We’re open to young ones taking over,’ says Motaung as Khoza re-elected PSL boss

The election of TS Galaxy boss Tim Sukazi, 51, Richards Bay FC's Jomo Biyela, 49, and Johnny Mogaladi, 64, of Polokwane City to its new executive committee (exco) suggests the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is gearing towards a new era in which younger leaders will emerge.

That era may include South Africa's professional football operating without the services of colossus National Soccer League (NSL) administrators such as PSL chair Irvin Khoza (76) and Kaizer Chiefs supremo Kaizer Motaung, who turned 80 in October.

Khoza retained his position for a sixth consecutive term unopposed after the league's quadrennial general meeting at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Wednesday, in which elections for the new four-year term of the exco was conducted. Khoza has been PSL chair since 2003.

Motaung, Mato Madlala (Lamontville Golden Arrows), Stan Matthews (SuperSport United) and Rejoice Simelane (Mamelodi Sundowns) were the other executive members who were re-elected. Cape Town City boss John Comitis, David Thidiela of Black Leopards and Stellenbosch FC CEO Robert Benadie made way for the new blood. 

Going into these elections, only Leopards' owner Thidiela (73) had made it clear he would not make himself available for re-election as he felt it was time to hand over the baton to younger members of the league.

Thidiela, who did not attend Wednesday's general meeting, had also criticised the league for having club officials in critical executive positions. He expressed his belief it may be difficult for the public to understand how Khoza (chair of Orlando Pirates) and Madlala, as acting PSL CEO since 2015, can be seen as neutral, especially when they have to deal with difficult matters involving club members.

But after being elected unopposed, Khoza insisted the future of South Africa's professional football is in good hands. He congratulated the new members and paid tribute to the outgoing Comitis, Thidiela and Benadie, saying their experience and expertise will be vital in the league's various committees.

“Please remain active in the league committees because I know how important you've been as members of the executive. We who are continuing hope the members will come with fresh ideas as to how we can take this great league of ours forward,” Khoza said.

Earlier in the day, Khoza honoured Motaung by gifting the Chiefs founder with R2m cheque that recognised his contribution to football, saying he should “go and spoil himself”. Motaung has been a member of the NSL since 1985, a time Khoza compared to a well looked-after forest that has stood the test of time for over 39 years.

“It was very emotional. In fact, the music [Frank Sinatra's I'll Do It My Way, played as Motaung received his award], made it even worse because I just became very nostalgic about something,” Motaung said after the conclusion of the meeting.

''It reminded me of things we went through in this journey. We've come a very long way and when we put this league together, we worked together as a team. Even when he [Khoza] was not chair of Pirates, at the time he was with us every time when we were fighting with Sanfa [the South African National Football Association, precursor to the South African Football Association, or Safa], where we had to leave Sanfa because they wanted to run amateur and professional football.

“Our journey with the chair has been very exciting and eye-opening because we went through a lot. It's time for us to actually put something together. Obviously, we can write our own history and not wait for somebody to come and write it for us. We need to write history in terms of where we come from because this has been our life through and through.”

Motaung expressed his excitement at the likes of Sukazi and Biyela being drafted into the executive. “We're open to the young ones to take over. Our time will come to an end and there's a proper succession plan that we have to implement together as a committee.”

Sukazi said their entry into the executive does not mean they will start wanting to change everything immediately and insisted there is much they can learn from Khoza and Motaung.

“It's quite fulfilling, of course, when we see new younger members elected to the new executive committee of the league. The only hope we have is that they will come with young and fresher ideas as the chair (Khoza) has already indicated and I'm no exception to such,” the Galaxy owner said.

“Mine is to enhance the amount of good work that has already been done by my predecessors on one hand and of course by other members of the executive that are remaining.”

Biyela insisted there was nothing sinister about Khoza giving Motaung the R2m gift, saying the Chiefs founder deserves even more for what he's done for South Africa football.

“It's not for me to say where that money is coming from but what I know is that even if it comes from the league, Kaizer Motaung served the league very well. He's one of the founding members of the league.

'So really there's no amount of money that matches his contribution and his effort in changing the lives of footballers in this country. He deserves it and we really appreciate the gesture by the chair to honour him while he's still alive. 

“We've also got something from the chairman's award [at the PSL Awards] when he acknowledged that I personally promoted two teams. It's not like he's being biased; it's a gesture that anyone doing something incredible deserves.”