Who leaves Orlando Pirates at the height of his popularity to go start something new? Who confronts the fear of failure and the unknown, grabs it by the gonads and blazes a previously uncharted path?
Not many, especially during the height of apartheid, would have dared venture where angels fear to thread. One soul did.
After much soul-searching and following a heart-to-heart conversation with his father, this soul arrived at what must have been an agonising decision to leave his home.
But in 1970, in a matchbox house in Phefeni, Soweto, a 25-year-old defied the odds and followed his heart.
Back in the day, armed with enlightenment gained from his escapades playing for Atalanta Chiefs in the North American Soccer League in the US, he grabbed a few of his teammates, whom he found had been expelled from Pirates.They went kickabout under the banner of Kaizer XI.
Rebels they were labelled. The 25-year-old, who this week turned 75, Kaizer Motaung, became a rebel with a cause.
After coursing the length and breadth of the country, getting more talent on board his broad dream, Kaizer Chiefs as we know it — an amalgamation of Motaung’s first name and his former American team — was born 49 years ago.
That development shook the foundations of football.
Over the years, the son, Chiefs, grew to a point where they established a great rivalry with the father, Pirates.
The dogfight took a life of its own, surpassing even that of the original Soweto derby between Pirates and Moroka Swallows.
Don’t follow me, follow Panyaza Lesufi in his mouth-to-mouth resuscitation of the Dube Birds.
Rest in peace Bra Pine Chabedi. Salute grootman Godfrey Gxowa. I digress.
The Chiefs-Pirates confrontation even became bloody. From then on, Chiefs wrote chapter after chapter on the SA soccer landscape.
Over the years, the Chiefs conveyor belt churned out star after star who became big names in the game.
Because SA was a pariah state, thanks to the apartheid policies and, as a result, was banned by world football governing body Fifa, many a Chiefs’ stars could not showcase their skills for their country against the best in the world.
I speak of Joseph “Banks” Setlhodi. Sylvester “City” Kole. Vusi “Computer” Lamola. Jimmy “Brixton Towers” Joubert, Petros “Ten Ten” Nzimande, Abednigo “Shaka” Ngcobo, Leonard “Waga Waga” Likoebe and Patrick “Ace” Ntsoelengoe (all deceased), Nelson “Teenage” Dladla. Jan “Malombo” Lichaba.
Upon readmission by Fifa, the careers of Doctor “16 Valve” Khumalo, Lucas “Rhoo” Radebe, the late John “Shoes” Mosheou, Fani “Didiza” Madida, were exported to Europe.
Others like Neil “Mokoko” Tovey, Thabo “Tsiki Tsiki” Mooki, the late Thabang “Banda” Lebese enthralled the crowds. These men and many more not mentioned here had a chance in the sun because a boy from Phefeni, when he was 25, started a phenomenon that has grown without bounds.
Some jokers in the pack, like Halidou Malam and Wasiu Ipayi, to name but two frauds of footballers, also found themselves in black and gold.
He resisted the temptation of being the be-all and end-all of the club. He recruited people with the right expertise to populate areas with which he was not familiar.
Those who depart from a well- established establishment are often derided as factory faults by those they leave behind. Not King Kaizer. He left to put himself in the pantheon of the all-time greats of black business. He is not driven by delusions of deity. His personality is an embodiment of cordiality. Salute Chincha Guluva.
Twitter: @bbkunplugged99
