Programme Director,


The Bereaved Family and Relatives,


Colleagues at Kaizer Chiefs,


The Ministry of Sports,


The Management of SAFA, PSL,


Members of Council of Mogale City,


Ladies and Gentlemen,

I must say that I am struggling to fashion words that best describe how I feel this day. On the one hand I am challenged to gather strength to speak about ACE as a departed soul, whilst on the other hand I am forced to remember ACE the brother; for this is what he became to me in his life.

As a footballer I marvel at the indelible contribution he has made throughout his playing days until his retirement. As a friend and brother I knew, ACE shall forever remain a part of the Kaizer Chiefs family for years to come. You will notice therefore the difficulty of having to deal with the reality of death that has once more cruelly claimed a part of me that I have grown to admire and love as a BROTHER.

I therefore pray that GOD guides my tongue as I attempt to share my life and experiences of the privilege of knowing ACE. Similarly, I hope to sooth the grieving hearts and souls of all of us who enjoyed the company of ACE and his gifted talents to which we can all testify.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I suspect that if we had our way, and if we had an opportunity to negotiate with GOD to at least notify us when our time to depart arrives, I am certain that He could be inundated with applications for such favours to spare our lives for just a little longer.

I am also certain that we in the business of football and Kaizer Chiefs in particular, could have approached GOD to at least spare the life of Patrick Pule ACE Ntsoelengoe - one formidable man to have donned the famous gold and black colours of Amakhosi in our country.

We may have probably asked Him to reverse the years of the ageing ACE so that we continue to marvel in his natural talent that conquered any soccer field anywhere in the world.

It is just unfortunate that we are powerless to negotiate any reprieve when death beckons and our request could have been dismissed as an ambitious and an impossible feat.

Today we gather to pay our last respect to a fallen icon whose grace and contribution to our society found fame from his ability to masterfully manipulate a little round toy called a soccer-ball. It is this toy that is made of hide and lately plastic that brought the best in ACE. In it he found peace and an opportunity to share his anointing with many of us who followed him to the latter.

The name ACE therefore evokes in me nostalgic emotions associated to the drama, the excitement and the intrigue that characterises our beautiful sport of football. Although a team sport, football often creates an opportunity for an individual to claim the glory. It is often through the brilliance, the genius and the vision of an individual that a team can amass successes in its lifetime. ACE is therefore that rare genius whose dependability emerged every time the team needed it most. I can assure you that ACE never faulted or reneged on his responsibility when his teammates looked up to him to weave his magical talents.

I was first introduced to the amazing skill and genius of ACE when the infant Kaizer II played against the Randfontein Invitation XI in Mohlakeng in the late 1960s. At that time my colleagues and I were on mission to recruit players to build and reinforce a club that would later emerge as a powerhouse in South African football.

Upon discovering this gem, and in a typical no-time-wasting manner in which the late founder member of Kaizer Chiefs Ewert Nene worked, we immediately approached the Ntsoelengoe family to secure his signature. I may not want to repeat the words of previous speakers on ACE and Kaizer Chiefs, except to admit that we did not need a second look into his natural talent to consider him as a member of the family.

Soccer agents will attest to the fact that they spend many hours scrutinizing players before they negotiate deals but, with ACE it was a question of moving swift and with precision to get his name before anyone could pounce.

Upon arrival at Kaizer XI, ACE went to live with us in our family with my parents. My mother immediately welcomed and raised him like her own. My youngest brothers, Cecil and Buti Motaung all shared the same meals and the normal household chores with ACE and grew to be the Three Muskerteers of the family. I must say we were bowled over by his humility and the simplicity with which he conducted himself.

After playing for Kaizer XI that later became Kaizer Chiefs and making a name for himself with every game he played, we were swamped by requests for his services abroad. It took me some effort to persuade the late Ewert Nene to release him together with Shaka Ngcobo to ply their trade in the USA. We played for Denver Dynamos and together earned strange identities from a Club President who struggled with African names. In failing to pronounce NTSOELENGOE, the President renamed him NOT-SO-LONG. My MOTAUNG clan name was also transformed into MUTENG. These transformations drew a lot of giggles from ACE and became our secret that I so painfully reveal here this morning.

Strangely, we continued to address each other in these names long after his retirement even when I was his boss at Chiefs. Whilst I was admirably named Chincha Guluva, ACE secretly and laughingly addressed me as Mr. MUTENG. This was said with a child-like humour that sent our thoughts into great moments we both shared in the snow-covered mountains of Colorado in the USA. Except for his colleagues, many of you may not know that he had a wicked sense of humour that attracted a lot of friends both locally and abroad.

Like any other businessman, I must also commend the subtle yet strategic business relationship he pursued after I had introduced him to a Mr. Toye Mostert. Like the legendary Dr. Beyers Naude’ who was ultimately ostracised for speaking against the injustices of Apartheid ideologies, the former Nationalist-schooled Mostert realized quite early in life that the system was unfair to the growing talent of black South Africans. He immediately seized an opportunity to guide the business interests and manage the financial affairs of ACE. I am therefore inclined to believe that ACE’s family will not be left in the lurch after this partnership had yielded a sound and profitable relationship over the many years of their association.

Like any other human being, ACE had his fair share of down moments and successes. He often fell victim to the charms of unscrupulous people that masqueraded as friends because of his good naturedness. His sense of humour often made him a queen bee that also attracted those whose aim was to derail his career and destabilise his family life. I am however glad that he readily welcomed reproach and was quick to learn and rectify his weaknesses on time.

When ACE returned from the USA, he demonstrated his love for the Motaung family and all at Kaizer Chiefs by serving diligently until he retired. Like a hero he was, it was first difficult for many of our supporters to accept his retirement as it was for me when everybody still expected us to continue playing. He however joined our Youth Development Programme and went on to share his vast knowledge and skill with young children that may be future stars in our country.

This was indeed a humble gesture and an unselfish contribution into a necessary investment at Kaizer Chiefs when we considered the future development of our youngsters. Until his death, ACE proved an asset and an important member of our Technical Team whose specific task was to nurture and groom our talented youngsters into players of note. His approach emphasised more on the intellectual mastery of the game as he believed that a good player may often be let down by his inability to think what to do with a ball before he receives it. Whereas these youngsters enjoyed his stature as a genius and a maestro in tactical prowess, senior players sought the guidance of his wisdom when the challenge became demanding.

Whilst I can say more on his achievements at Kaizer Chiefs and abroad, it pains me to say little of the missed opportunities of watching ACE represent his country internationally. I must express pity to the world for missing an opportunity to compare the skills of ACE who most definitely could have held his own against reputable stars like Michelle Platini, the great Pele Maradona, and others. Had it not been for the evil Apartheid, I believe the world could have been mesmerised by his sheer brilliance and a cunning visionary sense that made him stand out of the rest. He therefore can be placed amongst that illustrious list of great footballers like the legendary George Best from Northern Ireland, the former Real Madrid Grand Master Alfredo Di Stefano who played internationally in three different countries (Argentina, Colombia and Spain) but never made it to the FIFA World Cup.

Whereas it is history that Apartheid robbed us many opportunities, I still battle to understand why he was overlooked as an ambassador to help us campaign for the 2006 and 2010 bid to host the Soccer World Cup.

I believe ACE met all criteria for participation in such assignments when we consider his illustrious career stint in America that even gained him the famous induction in the US Soccer Hall of Fame in October 2003. His credentials as the most travelled and successful campaigner could have automatically qualified him to at least serve our country in some department that governs anything to do with our National teams at any level.

To crown all misery, as a footballer, and an enigma that became so famous locally and abroad, one would have anticipated that the South African soccer fraternity would have by now established some institution that would recognise and reward such talented men. It is still a travesty of justice that to date, we still do not have any organised mechanisms to honour our heroes whilst they are still alive although much strain has been taken to reconstruct the socio-political and the economic playing fields of our sporting fraternities.

May I challenge this trend and appeal to those in the echelons of football to mobilise support and work together towards eradicating the tendency to honour our heroes posthumously. I believe we must take cue from the efforts that were facilitated by the Mogale City Municipality Mayors and Councillors for sending ACE to receive his honour in the US and similarly hosted a welcoming party to consolidate the excitement around such an honour.

In addition, we must also not forget to recognise the contribution of those institutions that created the necessary platform for such heroes to develop and flourish. We must also not forget the support structures and the players that worked collectively to help others carve a successful niche for themselves in this short career of football.

Today ACE is gone but he will remain a monument in the hearts of many. His anointing was best expressed in the field of play and may he therefore not be allowed to diminish before our hearts and minds.

In the words of the famous writer Neale Donald Walsch in a book titled Conversations with God; Book 1, The All Mighty God assures us by stating that;

“I have given you a free-will, the power to do as you choose and I will never take away from you ever”

This confirms that ACE thoroughly utilised his power and his God given talent and anointing to pursue his mission in life. His was a calling to exploit the gift of manoeuvring that little soccer ball by turning and twisting it into an instrument that made him a giant in our life. He has thus accomplished his mission and may we thus celebrate his achievements this day.

I would therefore like to thank GOD who borrowed us ACE and planted his talents that impacted immensely into our lives at Kaizer Chiefs. His death is surely a great loss to our football and the country as a whole.

May I also thank his parents who guided his growth and gave us at Kaizer Chiefs an opportunity to share the life of ACE. Their resolute stance against ill-discipline helped us to fight off some evil forces that often sought to dissuade ACE and ruin his illustrious career. His parents thankfully built an impenetrable wall of protection and worked with us to look into the interest of ACE and guard his success until he passed on.

I would also like to thank his wife Thato for just being there. Her relentless struggles to keep the family together may not be overlooked having to deal with an enigma as in ACE. We often say that the life of a superstar is not its own and therefore depends on the fighting spirit of a well-coordinated mothering figure to survive the trappings of fame and fortune.

I pray that Thato remains focussed and resolute in handling the effects of dealing with death and a loss to her beloved husband and father to her children. It would be gratifying to see her holding the two families together by generously remembering the parents of ACE who were blessed with such a wonderful son who carved his own monument in our society.

May I direct our sincere condolences to all those who grew to know and share moments of both happiness and hardships with ACE. May GOD strengthen you and help you work together to find another ACE in our communities.

May we hold our heads high and shout in unison that DEATH BE NOT PROUD for the spirit of PATRICK ACE NTSOELENGE shall never diminish.

LONG LIVE NOT-SO-LONG!

MAY YOU FIND PEACE.

KAIZER MOTAUNG


CHAIRMAN/MANAGING DIRECTOR


KAIZER CHIEFS