When it comes to transformative leadership in African sport, few figures loom as large and as positively as Patrice Motsepe. From reshaping club soccer in South Africa to turning around the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Motsepe’s imprint is unmistakable.
Across every arena he has entered, Motsepe has demonstrated a rare capacity to convert vision into measurable success through disciplined leadership, ethical authority and strategic clarity.
In business, he built enduring value where others saw risk.
In South African soccer, he transformed Mamelodi Sundowns into a national and continental force.
At CAF, he inherited dysfunction and delivered stability and growth. From the boardroom to the football pitch, his record reveals that institutions under his stewardship consistently stabilise, professionalise and grow.
As the owner of Mamelodi Sundowns, he redefined excellence in South African club soccer. As CAF president, he assumed control of an organisation in crisis and oversaw a remarkable turnaround.
He didn’t just step into African soccer governance; he sought to change its trajectory. Since assuming the presidency of CAF in March 2021, he has overseen one of the most profound institutional shifts in the organisation’s history, which has delivered rewards in finance, governance and global stature. This success has, however, also provoked outright hostility from sections of the soccer ecosystem.
History has shown that transformational leadership rarely unfolds without resistance because it disrupts entrenched power dynamics, patronage, identity and emotional attachments to tradition. In African soccer, few leaders have disrupted as much as Motsepe.
When he took office, CAF was an unstable and dysfunctional organisation. Financially, CAF had been running chronic operating deficits, with losses widely estimated in the range of $40-million to $45-million. The organisation’s cash flow was precarious, severely constraining its ability to support member associations, competitions and development programmes.
Damaging blow
Perhaps the most damaging blow came with the collapse of the long-term commercial and broadcast agreement CAF had with Lagardère Sports, a deal reportedly valued at close to $1-billion over 12 years.
Its termination didn’t just result in legal disputes, but also shattered CAF’s credibility, which forced sponsors and broadcasters to retreat. As a result, African soccer’s flagship competitions were left commercially exposed at a time when global sports revenues were becoming increasingly competitive.
Governance failures exacerbated financial distress. Decision-making was highly centralised, checks and balances were weak and financial reporting systems were unreliable. Independent audits raised serious concerns about compliance and accountability, prompting the unprecedented intervention of Fifa to stabilise CAF’s administration. African soccer’s continental body had reached a point where it could not fully manage its own affairs without external oversight. In short, Motsepe inherited institutional turbulence and systemic crisis.
Commercial credibility
One of his most significant achievements has been the rapid restoration of CAF’s commercial credibility. Under his leadership, CAF’s total revenue for the 2023/24 financial year reached approximately $166.4-million, and the organisation recorded a net profit of about $9.5-million. This marked CAF’s first profitable year after a prolonged period of losses.
This shift from deficit to surplus is a product of disciplined budgeting, improved contract management and renewed confidence from sponsors and broadcasters. Motsepe prioritised rebuilding trust with commercial partners by offering institutional predictability rather than personalised deal making.
The expansion of CAF’s sponsorship base illustrates this transformation. At the time of Afcon 2021, CAF had roughly nine official sponsors. By Afcon 2025, that number had more than doubled to over 20. Major partners secured or expanded during Motsepe’s tenure include TotalEnergies as title sponsor, Visa as global payments partner, Orange in telecommunications, Puma as technical partner, Suzuki in the automotive sector and a growing list of regional and broadcast partners across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. This diversification reduced CAF’s historic dependence on single sponsors and created a more resilient revenue model.
The financial revival also enabled redistribution. Grants to CAF’s 54 member associations were doubled, participation fees for clubs in continental competitions were increased and greater resources were channelled into women’s soccer, youth tournaments and refereeing development. Unlike earlier eras where revenue accumulation at the centre did not translate into broad-based benefit, Motsepe’s model emphasised sustainability and shared growth.
Motsepe implemented practical governance reforms that are central to institutional survival. Before 2021, CAF governance was characterised by informal processes, personality-driven authority and minimal internal accountability. Motsepe fundamentally restructured this unsustainable architecture.
Financial oversight mechanisms were strengthened, audit and risk committees were empowered, and compliance with international accounting standards was improved. Budgeting shifted from ad hoc expenditure to multi-year financial planning. Decision-making moved away from unilateral executive authority toward committee-based, rule-bound processes. These changes curtailed discretionary power, strengthened transparency and inevitably alienated those who had benefited from opaque systems.
Ethical signals
Motsepe also sent powerful ethical signals. He declined to draw a salary as CAF president and personally contributed funds during CAF’s most precarious moments. While symbolic, these actions reinforced a broader philosophy of leadership as stewardship rather than extraction. In a sector long criticised for self-enrichment, such gestures carried both moral and institutional weight.
Motsepe understands too well that charity begins at home. In South Africa, the Motsepe Foundation has played a significant role in supporting soccer development. The foundation has partnered with the Department of Basic Education to fund large-scale school soccer programmes, notably the Kay Motsepe Schools Championship, which involves thousands of school teams.
In addition, the Motsepe Foundation sponsors the ABC Motsepe League, the third tier of South African soccer administered by the South African Football Association. The foundation also supports the Motsepe Foundation Championship, the national first division (second tier), previously without a title sponsor.
The Africa Cup of Nations provides the clearest empirical lens through which to compare eras. The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco emerged as a defining milestone in the history of the competition. The tournament achieved record ticket sales and attendance exceeding 1.3 million spectators.
The tournament demonstrated African football’s international appeal, with global broadcast rights sold in over 85 international markets, positioning Afcon as a global football product, and not just a regional spectacle. Under Motsepe, prize money has also increased substantially. The total prize money for the winners of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco 2025 was $10-million, up from $7-million for the winners at the 2023 Afcon in Ivory Coast, representing a 43% increase.
Misplaced criticism
Sadly, transformational leadership is rarely greeted with applause from all quarters. Despite considerable progress under his leadership, Motsepe faces persistent, but misplaced, criticism largely because he has shifted power and unsettled tradition.
In systems long accustomed to low expectations and where the bar is set too low, excellence can provoke resentment as much as admiration. Motsepe has altered power balances in African football and disrupted informal networks.
One criticism concerns alleged European influence, particularly around proposals to adjust Afcon’s frequency from a biennial to a four-year cycle. Critics argue that such reforms benefit European clubs by reducing season disruptions and reflect external pressure rather than African priorities. This argument falls flat on governance principles. CAF decisions are made collectively by its Executive Committee and member associations, not dictated by Europe or Fifa.
Motsepe has repeatedly, and correctly, dismissed claims of external control as “absolute nonsense”, insisting that CAF “runs Africa for Africa”. Aligning calendars is intended to reduce longstanding club-versus-country conflicts for African players and create space for new competitions such as a proposed African Nations League, ensuring regular competitive soccer and consistent revenue. This criticism is based on emotional attachments to a traditional format as well as inability to recognise that soccer must evolve to meet new demands and challenges.
Another criticism alleges bias towards North African nations, particularly Morocco. These claims are typically emotion driven and devoid of any substance, often arising from disputed refereeing decisions or tournament outcomes. Contrary to these flawed claims, the truth is that Morocco has not monopolised continental titles under Motsepe.
No doubt, Motsepe’s tenure stands out as one of the most successful periods in CAF’s history. He stabilised CAF financially, restored its commercial credibility, increased prize money and redistribution, strengthened governance structures and elevated the Africa Cup of Nations to unprecedented global stature. It is probably for this reason that Motsepe’s name is being floated for the Fifa presidency and other prominent leadership positions.
Perhaps the sky is the limit for this man who possesses a rare blend of humility, business acumen and football intellect. DM
(Disclosure: I am a fan of Mamelodi Sundowns.)
Cornelius Monama is a public servant and government communicator. He writes in his personal capacity.