Johannesburg - It takes special skill and a lengthy attention span to listen to Mamelodi Sundowns' president Patrice Motsepe. That’s because the mining magnate has a million thoughts rushing into his mind almost every minute.
He easily wanders from the main topic, getting side-tracked by something else before returning to where he started. He spoke like that on Monday in Sandton, where he addressed the media for close on two hours.
Motsepe touched on wide-ranging topics, from Keagan Dolly’s buyout clause drama to admitting that he wouldn’t stand in Pitso Mosimane’s way if Safa wanted to appoint him as Bafana Bafana coach - if the mentor is keen on returning to managing the senior national team.
The billionaire also spoke about the club’s future, about his dream to see the Brazilians play in the final of the Fifa Club World Cup for the next 10 years. That target was inspired by seeing Sundowns make their debut at the global showpiece event following their CAF Champions League success last year.
But the club’s success took a back seat on Monday; instead their administrative blunders dominated proceedings.
The latest of those blunders is that of a Sundowns' official who put the wrong buyout clause in Dolly’s contract when it was amended to reflect he wasn’t on loan with Ajax Cape Town any more. Instead of putting £1.5-million (about R24.7-million), which was on the original contract, the official incorrectly put it close to R10.5-million.
“The truth is the truth whether I like it or not,” Motsepe said.
“We bought Keagan from Ajax. We paid his salary while he was at Ajax (on loan) because he was part of our plans for the future. It’s a very simple issue. There was an agreement. I have seen things in the media that are totally incorrect. There was an agreement with Keagan.
“When he came back, the PSL said you have to change the contract. You can’t have the previous agreement you had (when he was still at Ajax on loan). A mistake was made. The buyout clause was R10 (for example), as everyone agreed, but an official from Sundowns made a mistake. Instead of saying R10, they said it’s R5.
“Some of the board members thought, ‘Wow! Somebody at Sundowns is being paid to change the clause.’ There were claims of bribery and corruption. But my standpoint was that it was a genuine error. We didn’t know about it, until an offer arrived from (Greek side) Olympiacos.”
That mistake came a couple of seasons after the club took Alje Schut’s card for the 2014/15 season that had the wrong year on it.
Six years before that was the José Torrealba drama. The Venezuelan striker claimed he didn’t sign an extension with Sundowns while the club had a contract that stated otherwise. It came out that Torrealba’s signature didn’t match that on the Sundowns contract the club claimed was his. Afzal Khan, then executive director, parted ways with the Brazilians after that embarrassing moment.
Motsepe, in one of the moments where he strayed, admitted that Sundowns have a lot of back-room staff. Some have similar job descriptions. The club needs to change and streamline its resources.
For one, it would make it easier to pinpoint who is accountable for what. Sundowns’ plans for the future should start by restructuring their bloated management team.
Motsepe said the Dolly drama has taught them a lesson and in future there will be three people who will finalise contracts instead of one person only.
Dolly and Schut’s case came about because of negligence.
Motsepe, with all his business interests, knows better than anyone that small mistakes could have huge financial repercussions. These blunders have hurt the Sundowns brand, which was starting to take shape on the continent and globally.
This Dolly drama should be a turning point for Sundowns. They must sort out their business affairs to ensure that such mistakes aren’t repeated in the future. At the moment how the club is run doesn’t match their ambitions. It’s not all doom and gloom, though.
Sundowns have some hard-working individuals who are there for the good of the brand and the club. Those individuals need to be recognised and given more power. Dead wood would obviously need to be removed. How Sundowns react to this and the path they take could define their future.