By Mark Ogagan
South African football legend and founder of Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, Mr. Kaizer Motaung was on Wednesday awarded a honorary doctorate by the University of Witswatersrand in Johannesburg.
The institution is honouring Motaung for his commitment to promoting education and football, and the uplifting of disadvantaged youth.
In 2022, the University of Cape Town conferred an honorary doctorate in Social Sciences on Motaung.
Wits University has also seen fit to award him an honorary doctorate, conferring the title of Doctor of Commerce.
Motaung founded Kaizer Chiefs at just 27 years old and says he is content with his contribution to the upliftment of ordinary people.
“I’m very proud and happy to be part of this community. I’m no longer the “Chincha Guluva” people used to know as a player. But I can say Kaizer Chiefs determines the happy index of the country. A couple of weeks ago, we won a cup after 10 years or so.
“The country was in a different mood; it was like there was a World Cup being played. I’m very happy and proud to have contributed to making a lot of people happy.”
Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, says Motaung’s life is a story on its own.
Vilakazi says, “Take a chance in life, be a creator. Dr. Motaung’s life story is in itself a message. He could have just stood there and not said anything, people would have known what he was talking about.”
Motaung, who was one of South Africa’s Special Ambassadors for the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup bids, was involved in the establishment of the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
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