HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

Kaizer Motaung's children lavish him with praises on his 80th.

Kaizer Chiefs FC Chairman Dr. Kaizer Motaung and three of his children Jessica Motaung, Kaizer Motaung Jr and Kemiso Motaung

An observant man who listens, he is cut from a unique cloth. He puts people first. He is a man of integrity and respect. He is such a cool man. He’s a funny man who loves comedy and music. He’s highly intelligent, left-handed, very analytical and a perfectionist. And he is a little bit OCD.

That is Kaizer Motaung to his children. The Kaizer Chiefs boss turns 80 years old today and his offspring spoke openly about what it is they find special about their father.

Jessica, the Chiefs Marketing Director and Motaung’s second daughter, says it is somewhat surreal that her father has lived that long and ‘I am so blessed to have had the time with him’.

“He has evolved as a dad. He was a very strict dad at the beginning but always chilled and always an empowering person. A very great listener, very observant, a very kind dad, and also very engaging - that’s one of the things I appreciate, engaging him in intellectual discussions and always educating. Oh and ever present in a very solid and strong way, you know. He’s someone whom you know has your back whether he’s your father or your friend or your boss, always there for people and he is very loving.”

Her younger brother Kaizer Junior who is the club’s Sporting Director had to dig deep to find the right words to describe the man he admires deeply.

“How do I put that into words? He is more than my father and I can’t talk of how he impacted my life. Ntate Motaung, Chairman – he’s a special individual and we are incredibly blessed for him to be able to reach the milestone of 80 (years) and be with us to continue sharing his knowledge and wisdom. I have a lot of respect for him and I’ll always see him as more than just my father.”

Junior has fond memories of his father fetching him from school and taking him to the club’s old offices in central Johannesburg: “I remember how beautiful it was when he’d take me from home to go watch the first team play on weekends. And then during the week, after school, I’d go to the club’s office and my place was under his desk – either the boardroom or this office  - and I would spend my afternoons in there drawing or writing things in my books. And he would always be on the phone or holding meetings with players or agents - I was too young to know who they were. He answered the phone so many times and he was always working.  I realise now that he did all that to give me the kind of life that I now have.”

He says his father shaped him into being who he is now.

“I’ve never felt caged or restricted or directed by him. He very much allows you to be yourself and always with a loving touch. I can’t thank him enough for the life I’ve been able to live and the love that I‘ve seen in my family, He has guarded us in a special way.”

Kemiso concurs with Junior about the leeway their father gives them as she shares the story of how Motaung allowed her to decide the direction the club’s digital department – which she heads – to go.

Born between Jessica and Junior, she finds it funny that people think her brother is older when he is actually the baby of the family. But as the youngest of the girls, she is ‘daddy’s girl’ and seems to have observed their father the most.

“He’s such a cool man,” she says of her father “My dad seems like a serious man but he is an exceptionally funny man who likes to laugh. He loves music and comedy he and I connected in that way. We watched the Cosby Show together when I was growing up. He’s the kind of man who likes to joke and loves to laugh and he teases a little bit.  He is much more chilled than people think. Yes, he is a very pensive person, a bit of an introvert but highly intelligent. He is left-handed, he is analytical and he is a perfectionist. And he’s a little OCD, always touching lights and things must always be in place.”

Asked what they’d say to him on his special day, the trio all said they would thank their father for having given them the life he has.

Thank you for my life, thank you for what he’s poured into me. My dad has been a great influence on my life, some of the work he shared with me; the music he shared with me growing up; the books he gave have influenced the person that I’ve been. Some of the talks we have had and most importantly thank you for being a demonstration and an example. He has shown, he has not said do this and not been it, thank you for what he has created in me as a person. He is an old-school gentleman that we will never see the like of in the future. He is cut from a very different cloth and unique cloth so proud he is my father. I love him dearly” Jessica said.