It is such a privilege and honour to express condolences on behalf of the Kaizer Chiefs Family of supporters, management, players and staff, over the passing of Ntate Leepile Taunyane.

No amount of words can describe our heavy hearts as we direct our thoughts and prayers to the family, relatives and the entire community of Alexandra. We are however thankful for allowing us the privilege of sharing your father who also donned as a mentor, a counsellor, an educator and a living GOD-anointed manual that nurtured and guided us through intricacies of life.

When we referred to him as “Ntate” we meant it not as a title but in accepting and honouring him as a gift that we shared as sons and daughters to milk lessons in humility, coexistence, purposefulness and resourcefulness throughout our lives in football and beyond.

As a man and a father, it was the natural educator-teacher in him that prevailed over all personal matters that came to overshadow our rational at crucial points in our growth and development. He epitomized an accessible domestic point of reference that could be approached conveniently when our testosterone ascended a boiling point that usually resulted in personal destructive chaos. In simpler terms; Ntate’s open-door policy did not literally mean access to his office, but it meant an opportunity to enjoy the spread and a hug of his loving arms, and a serene and personal closeness to his generous heart.

During such moments, he would reprimand and advise with the strictest of principle and in a manner that empowered one to always triumphantly rise above the devastations of a present emotional and personal conflict.

I am certain that he would be short of administering corporal punishment considering the magnitude of our secret and manly delinquencies and the many times we consulted for direction and solutions.

I am also certain that residents of Alexandra may testify to his immense role and contribution in building a coherent community. Considering the socio-economic challenges of the erstwhile apartheid era, I don’t think there can be anyone who can dismiss Ntate Taunyane as one that folded his arms, and closed his lips when called to intervene in dangerous missions of calming political tensions. I believe he actively played a role of course with subtle yet effective dedication that did not seek the pomp and glory of fame, but with a passion-driven sense of finding and executing solutions.

In many conversations we had, he used to refer to dangers of living among gangsters, hustlers and targeted political activists that defined the character of a township famous for its role in South Africa’s economic and political discourse. He shared stories of teaching under extreme conditions that undermined humane co-existence. He spoke at length on issues of collapse of family life, the effects of migrant labour laws and the brutality of a white minority rule that relentlessly killed human spirits. Amazingly and throughout such conversations, he would not boast of his contribution, instead he would challenge us to appreciate our fortunes by considering and placing the needs of others ahead of our own.

It is for such reasons and many others that we feel aggrieved by his departure as a father that filled in for absent-fathers that shamelessly abdicate their responsibilities and place families and communities vulnerable to foreign and destructive influences.

We can thus thank Ntate Taunyane for just being there to fulfil the spiritual father-figure role that he performed fully and generously on those whose lives he has touched and influenced. We again thank his family for sacrificing and allowing him to add huge numbers into his home!

Ladies and Gentlemen

Ntate Taunyane lived, breathed and loved football. He embraced it as a catalyst for building and uniting communities. He used it as a podium for addressing injustices and a platform for creating opportunities for active and none active participants. He embraced it to nullify gender stereotypes and spread its influence to transform lives beyond the tensions of highly competitive ninety-minutes of fun and recreation.

From my active playing days until retirement and focus into the business side of football, Ntate Taunyane has always contributed wisdom and professional wealth that shaped our character. While many of us thrived on mastering the tactical and technical skills of football, we were attracted more by the behind-the-scenes coaching lessons in life skills that he administered.

When the organisation of football grew during the establishment of structures of governance and administration, and the tensions of ego and personal ambition swelled, Ntate Taunyane always stood in the centre to diffuse life-threatening conflict.

I can recall sensitive processes that evolved during the various transitional periods of SANFA, SAFA, NPSL, NSL and PSL including those of former federations and the manner in which he bravely stood above the rest when presenting visionary arguments that brought unity and calm. During these times, it was quite clear that Ntate was no ordinary administrator or mediator, but he was a lighthouse that shone at the shores of a turbulent and raging sea.

Amazingly, and in a manner that cannot be explained, the diminutive powerhouse conducted some meetings with relative calmness and a fatherly and professional depth that always taught us to do everything with a sense of finding solutions instead of fuelling further destructive conflict through marathons of talks and arguments. His approach was direct, result-oriented and visionary to salvage a sport that undoubtedly had and still has credentials to either build or destroy a nation.

It was therefore not a surprise after the transition from National Soccer League to Professional Soccer League, we felt it our obligation to honour him with the role as Life President of PSL. We did so with an appreciative conscious response to his contribution from his wealth of wisdom and unlimited dedication to serving his country.

For example, his work as someone central to executing the social responsibility role of the Telkom Charity project and the extent of encouraging football to generously respond to the needs of the poor, remains commendable. There is indeed evidence of his work in impoverished communities and in organisations that football supported throughout the country.

Fellow South Africans,

Today the colossal giant of sports rests fulfilled as one who undoubtedly constructed a closely-knit South African family of football. He departs and will be welcomed with a sentence; “well-done my faithful servant” in remotest realms known by the giver of life. Let us mourn, heal and rise with hope that another Leepile Taunyane will emerge to lift the flag of a fallen hero and take up his position from which we could drain his calmness, wisdom, and fatherliness. May the family be assured of God’s time and grace to healing at a time when losing a beloved member is painful and unbearable.

I thank You.

Kaizer Motaung (Mr.)


Executive Chairman, Kaizer Chiefs