By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) will on the 22nd of July 2022, honour Ntate Kaizer Motaung with an Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences.
The university said Motaung would be honoured along with six other recipients.
Born in Soweto in 1944, the Chiefs supremo started his football career aged 16 when he debuted for Orlando Pirates in the early 1960s.
In 1968, he was recruited to trial for the newly formed Atlanta Chiefs, who played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the US. He impressed at the trials held in Zambia and was immediately snapped up by Atlanta Chiefs.
During that time, he achieved the top scorer award, was voted Rookie-of-the-Year and earned a place in the NASL’s All-Star team.
But when he returned to Soweto, Motaung was on a mission to fulfil his dream of founding his own team, and thus Kaizer Chiefs was born in 1970.
The club hit the ground running and became known as the “Phefeni Glamour Boys”, a star-studded collection infamous for flair, long hair and winning cup competitions.
Fast-forward to 2022; Amakhosi is one of the biggest football clubs on the African continent, with 55 major trophies in their cabinet.
Meanwhile the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) welcomes the decision by the University of Cape Town (UCT) to bestow South African Football Legend Motaung with an Honorary Doctorate.
“The EFF recognises and salutes the Commander in Chief and President of the EFF, Julius Malema, who at the 2nd National People’s Assembly (NPA) of the organisation, called for Kaizer Motaung to be honoured for his service to the footballing fraternity in Africa.