Cape Town - Kaizer Motaung, the founder of the Kaizer Chiefs empire, can no longer stand by idly and watch the club plumb the depths of despair.
For many years, Chiefs earned the title of aristocrats of South African football, but its relevance pales into insignificance these days because the club has not won a trophy in seven years.
Currently, Amakhosi are hovering above the relegation zone in 14th place on the Premiership standings.
Arthur Zwane was handed the coach’s position by the Chiefs hierarchy, which includes team manager Bobby Motaung and sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jr.
They are not occupying those positions because they emerged from a list of qualified candidates who applied after the posts were advertised.
Rather, those key positions were awarded due to pure nepotism as the incumbents are the sons of Kaizer Motaung.
They have never been held accountable for the team’s poor performances in recent years.
What has become common knowledge is that before Zwane’s appointment, previous coaches Gavin Hunt and Stuart Baxter had suffered a fair bit of interference in tasks that they would be normally responsible for.
Hunt did not say much, but the little he said on occasions was a lot.
He revealed that he did not know why certain players were at the club, arguing that there were players who were not good enough to be at Chiefs and failed to understand how their recruitment came about.
Unfortunately, during Hunt’s tenure, the club was under suspension by Fifa and could not make any signings.
However, several players were brought into the senior ranks from the reserve team squad.
Just over a month ago, Baxter outlined some of the problems he experienced at Chiefs.
It amounted to being dictated to by Motaung Jr, who plays the same role as Flemming Berg does at Mamelodi Sundowns.
It is hard to comprehend how a greenhorn like Motaung Jr could be tasked with being responsible for recruitment and other day-to-day duties, which has an impact on the team’s performance.
Bobby Motaung, meanwhile, does not have any footballing accolades, other than the fact that he is the son of Kaizer Motaung.
Yet, as the manager, he feels equipped to make important calls on recruitment and perform duties that have a direct bearing on the team’s performance.
Although it has never been said, Bobby Motaung and Kaizer Motaung Jr would have had the biggest say in the appointment of Zwane, who has had the benefit of several excellent signings in the close season.
Zwane proved successful with the club’s reserve team, and that was the primary reason why he was allowed to graduate through the professional ranks into the role of first team coach.
Many famous clubs worldwide have coaches who specialise at youth level, but aren’t necessarily promoted to the first team.
One of the reasons given for Zwane’s appointment was that he knows the club’s culture – a culture once defined by winning trophies and since the club has not won one in several years, there is no evidence of that culture exciting any more.
Against this background, it is not only Zwane who should be feeling the heat but the Motaung siblings should also be having sleepless nights.
Kaizer Motaung has turned the brand into a multi-million-rand institution, but it is time for him to be brave and save the club from further embarrassment.
@Herman_Gibbs