I employ there to earn competitively as well as what the best earn in Europe. But that also goes with the appeal and the excitement and the attraction of African football. And the more our players in Africa do well in the African continent and do well in Europe, the greater the respect and the greater the excitement. So I always say you also have to make sure that we pay our football players well. That's why those African players who play in Europe, I'm very excited about them. But we've also encouraged the football clubs in Africa to also increase the salaries they pay. And it's great that we can attract some of the top African players who in the past would go and play in Europe, and we can keep them in the continent and pay them. So don't let anybody underestimate the importance of what some people call financial sustainability, which goes with profitability, which also goes with how each and every one of you, the income you get to maintain yourselves and maintain your families. So I always look at Africa in that broader context. That's why, you know, I always say this is what excites me. When I came in, one of the journalists was saying, 'Yeah, President, I heard that they've been asking you to be president of FIFA in the future.' I told you that it doesn't excite me. Africa excites me. I need to do the things that keep me up. So that's as much as I spoke about the fact that when we spoke to the editors, we really must play more a role of uniting rather than a role of saying that I like this football club, you like another football club. We all like African football, so let's work together. Okay, so what questions have you got?
To turn around KEF, before you came there were so... You know, you must always... No leader succeeds on his own. You know, as I said, we've got 80,000 employees in the mining companies which represents a merger, as well as the ones at African Rainbow Minerals that we started. And whether it's in business or football, people always come and say, 'You know, Dr. Motsepe, you've done exceptionally well,' and the credit should go to the people I've had the honor to work with. But the key issue of a leader is to attract the smartest and the brightest, motivate, inspire them, and also pay them well. And one of the things we've done is, you know, I earn money as president of KEF and president and vice president of FIFA. All of that money I donated to the staff from day one because many of those people are underpaid, have been underpaid. I mean, how can I phone somebody at 2:00 in the morning and say to them, 'We've got this important competition, what are the preparations like? What are the arrangements with the media like?' Because we have a duty. We are not doing you a favor when you come to Morocco. We have to treat you with the dignity and respect that you deserve and also make sure that the facilities, the infrastructure is world class. And that's very, very important. So, you know, we started in business, we bought mines that nobody wanted, old, unprofitable, marginal. And I don't want to also underemphasize the importance of a relentless focus on excellence, uncompromising focus on efficiency, on productivity. And in KEF, it's just simple things like if somebody phones the KEF office, there must be somebody to answer the phone. And if you send an email, just respond, 'Thank you very much, we'll come back to you.' I mean, every single competition that we organize, it requires a lot of hard work. And I will tell you, you know, I'm lucky that I've got incredibly smart people in the family businesses. But you don't lend your name to anything. I cannot. Unless if I'm going to work hard, make the necessary sacrifices, and make sure that there's tangible, quantifiable progress. Not in my mind. I can stand up and say we're doing well. It's more important what you think and what the football stakeholders think. So, I was going to step down last. As I said, I was going to step down before the last elections because things were going well. You know, you also have to know there's a time to come and there's a time to go. So, you know, when I said I would help, it was clear in my mind I was going to spend four years. And that's why the first year I knew would require uncompromising emphasis on simple things like referees. I mean, you must win because you're the best, and let the other person win because they are better than you. So we've got to pay referees better. You know, change the culture. And the benefit we had is we saw it in the mines that we bought when we had 8,000 employees who were told you've got no work, the mines are going to be closed, it's unprofitable. So you've got to stand there in front of 8,000 mine workers and you've got to motivate them and give them a reason to believe that there's a future, that they'll earn money. So I'm excited because, you know, when I step down, and the problem they say as a leader, don't... As I said, in my case, when I said it's time to leave, the sponsors, the wonderful sponsors, they came to me and said, 'If you leave, we leave with you.' And it then meant that the enormous sacrifices that we've made and the enormous progress and the legacy that we built, because we're all judged by your legacy, our legacies. They won't say, you know, Patrice Motsepe made millions of rands in his businesses. It's what has Patrice Motsepe done for his communities, for his country, and for the continent. That is a test. So, I can step down immediately. I can step down now because, you know, as a leader, you also have to understand we've got this terminology that the leader gets knocked down by a bus and there should be others immediately who can take over and keep up the good work. So I'm excited about the passion, the enthusiasm. And I say to you, you know, I go to Lagos, I go to Kinshasa, I go to Soweto, Maboneng, in Maboneng, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt. It's to see these people, the love there for football. And then they say to me, when the national team plays, I'd rather not mention the name of the countries, when the national team plays, we are all... the fact that you belong to one religion, I belong to another religion, the fact that you belong to one tribe, I belong to another tribe, for that time when the national team plays, those differences disappear. We are all Nigerian, we are all Ivorian, we are all South African, we are all Egyptian, we are all Moroccan, Algerian, Ghanaian, Ivory Coast. So, and that's why the work that you do, you know, for us as well, this is the era where Africa must come together. I mean, the opportunities are enormous when we work together. And a few weeks ago I was in Saudi Arabia with some of the top businessmen in the world on a panel, and we emphasized this is a new generation, you know, a new generation where economically, standards of living, the potential is enormous to make sure our people live better, earn more money, less crime. And of course, football has a unique role to play.
Questions? Between CAF and you speak about protecting the dream. Now we have African content coming through in different languages, French, Portuguese, and indigenous African languages, meaning that more people can understand it and do it. You know, and that's what makes me proud. That's what makes me proud just to hear what you say. And, you know, when you grow up, it's all about, as I said, I want my degree, I want to, you know, I have to be financially independent, which is important. But, you know, these are the sort of things that excite me, that this partnership between Canal+ and SuperSport, I've watched both of them independently. And I, you know, look at the podcast. Yeah, I was saying, 'Does his podcast make money?' And he says to me, he says, 'I don't know what to do with the money.' So that's a beautiful problem to have. Foundation instead, $10 million for schools football. But that's the beauty. So, I just want to say how enormously proud I am, because I'm not going to be talking to you for many, many years, you know, in this capacity. I'll engage in various other capacities, but I'm so proud of the work that you guys do and the message you get across and this partnership. That's why I was also saying to Thabiso, just... and I know in our businesses, when we pay the staff, the employees well, the shareholders do well, we make more money. But we only make money when the people we have the privilege to work with also get more money, of course based on performance. Let me come to you, and then I'll come, we'll give everybody a chance because...
Mr. President, I know the focus is on 2025, that it's going to be a great spectacle, what you did. But speaking to long-term planning beyond that as well, what are we doing as a continuation? Very, very important. You know, very, very important. Because, you see, when I was president of Black Business, you know, we knew the old generation. I don't know, Chavalala from here, you know, we had family businesses. And when we united black and white business, I stepped down and we were all happy. But I think one of the mistakes I did was, you know, we had good leadership, but we should have been a little bit more paranoid about what the future was going to look like when I wasn't there. And I'm proud of the work that USA is doing, very, very proud. So you raise an important question because we've got to look... You've got to invest for the future. And the meaningful benefits, they don't come overnight. And that's why I think about 20 years ago, you know, we from the family side supported schools football, the Kip Schools competition in South Africa. Because, you know, the first time I saw Kaizer Motaung as a little boy, I don't even faintly remember, because Kaizer came to my father's school when he was at Orlando High. And I'm always reminded about these things by other family members who like Kaizer Chiefs, you know, when things are complicated, and of course the Pirates ones do the same. But the point I was making is that very, very important question. Keep on encouraging the partnership. South Africa will be going, and all the other nations, you are from South Africa, that's why I'm commenting about Bafana going to America next year. And of course, going to... and this is a good foundation for all of those nations that will be going to America. This is an incredible foundation to, you know, check your combinations. And so, you know, in the mining business, we invest and often we don't make money for five, seven years. So that same principle applies in football. So, and that's partly why I'm so anxious to make sure that there's more money in each and every one of the 54 member associations, and let that money be used for development, but also pay the people who work for the member associations, pay them reasonably well so that they can also build a future. Then...
I wanted to ask... You must tell, and you guys do good work, you know. Update from... that French-speaking as well. So we must allow them as well. Yeah, I'm coming to you. Yes. Update from LOC point of view. And do you think Morocco, a slightly different? The mood will be slightly different given their under-20s champions. Listen, I don't want to mention any single country. There's some countries in Africa that are so committed to football and they invest in football. So, you know, when you see Morocco doing so well and various others, it's because of a consistent investment in football. So, there's a huge amount of excitement. I mean, you know, there's also the diaspora. So, it's going to be tough because there must probably be 10, if not 12, nations in Africa... any one of them. In fact, any one of the 24 nations can be in the AFCON. So, it's beautiful. There's no small nation anymore. Last question, guys. Thank you so much. Just two more. Two more. Yeah. Yes. Thanks, Dr. My apologies. I'll come to you. Thanks, Dr. Just on that Morocco point. Morocco over the past few years have been kings of big football events. What are they doing right? You know, you ask such an important question. And let me make a confession. For me, as president of CAF, I've got two obligations. Number one is I need the best infrastructure, facilities, stadiums, hotels, roads, non-negotiable. The second thing is I have to develop football in every part of the continent. So that's why I'm rotating. Every zone has to have an opportunity to host. Because, you know, look at what happened in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. I'm so proud of what they've done. But you remember this competition was supposed to take place, the CHAN was supposed to take place in February, and we went there in February and they were not ready. And many of the other countries said, 'President, please bring it to us. We're ready.' But there was a conscious commitment to football in East Africa. And I'm so excited. The national team of Kenya did very well. The national team of Tanzania did so well. The national team of Uganda did so well. The talent. So this is part of what I have to do is to contribute to the development and growth and excitement of football in every one of the 54 nations. So, Morocco won the competition. You know, there was a tender and there were many, many other countries. But let me also make one confession. You know, I also need money. And I need the money to go into young boys and young girls football development. And I know we made good money, good money in Ivory Coast. I love Cameroon. And what I don't talk about is as soon as I became president, they said, 'Kill, take away AFCON from Cameroon because they were not ready.' And then I went there and promises were made, and I trust our government. And then our independent people come back and say they haven't done what they promised. But for me, it was also about the confidence and faith we have to have in our people on the continent. And the same thing about Ivory Coast. When we finished with Cameroon, they came back and said Ivory Coast is not ready. And I'm so proud of President Ouattara and the government because we worked together and hosted an exceptional... You are the last one. I just wanted to understand the structure of the deal, you know, of us not a lot of people that access vision. So in terms of the national states on the continent... Very, very good question. Let me tell you, talking about Cameroon, there's a match where Cameroon plays, I don't know, I've got not just a police escort, I've got soldiers in front and behind. And where the stadium, we can't get into the stadium because there's, I don't know, 100,000 people outside. And so I'm stuck in the... But it was one of the most educational moments for me because we were driving, I don't know, a few meters every five, ten minutes. And I could see in the houses how families, mother, grandmother, father, grandfather, young and not so young, about 100 people were watching the football match on TV. So why what you're saying is, why the question you ask is so important, is because we have a duty as well to make sure that as many people as possible... Cannot blame them, SuperSport, they have to make money and they have to make money because it has an impact on the quality of the broadcasting, the whole infrastructure, the work, what Thabiso and them earn, you know. So they have to, and it's partnership. But why your question is so important, I'm proud that every game that Bafana plays, and the same applies of the many national teams on the continent, you've got to show it in the country so that as many people as possible can watch it. As much as the stadiums, you know, when a national team plays outside the country, you can't develop football. So they have to play in that country. So very good question. And I'm very happy that millions and millions of people have got access. And this partnership that is taking place now involves your national broadcasters. Yeah. Women's Champions League kicks off this weekend. The CAF Women's Champions League in Cairo. The final is next week, week after. It's a headache because it's in the middle of the CAF draw. I assume all of you will be at the CAF awards. You must organize a plane. Put all of them in the plane. It's for fun. Morocco. It'll take you more than two weeks to drive to Morocco. But of course, we've got the CAF awards week after next. It's exciting. And then the Women's Champions League kicked off. And then, so for me it's complicated because it's happening in the middle of the G20. So I've got to jump into the plane the night before, arrive in Morocco, and then fly to Egypt and then come back because the G20 is very important for the continent. Thank you so much. Thank you so very much. And thanks for the wonderful...
