Orlando Pirates were not a club one could market, not with their supporters burning stadiums the way they did. The biggest challenge was that there were too many voices. Pirates did not have anyone who was the embodiment of the soul of the club.
Dr
Irvin Khoza looked at Kaizer Motaung as his role model to rebuild Orlando
Pirates.
“I
realised Kaizer was the reason for that success. He was organised, he was
presentable and carried with him this air of success; he had this facade of
someone without any problems, he had an image that gave investors’ confidence.
And I knew Pirates needed those ingredients if they were to attract
sponsorships.”
Dr
Khoza had so much passion for this club that at times it over-ruled his
reasoning by spending money from his own pocket. He knew that Pirates’ revival
was important for the success of local football and after 3 years as Chairman, Pirates
won the biggest accolade in Africa which is CAF Champions League and since
then, the team has collected many domestic silver wares and already produced
many Bafana Bafana players than any other Premier Soccer League (PSL) teams.
I
wish if the current bunches of players are aware of the team history under the
leadership of Dr Khoza so that they can pull up their socks. Fans are tired of
the lackadaisical and erratic performance.
By Owen Mundalamo
