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When Silver Stars announced at a press conference on Thursday that they were about to become 51% owned by the Royal Bafokeng community, Stars founder Joseph Mapfulagasha was the only man on the podium who didn’t have his say.
When queried about this afterwards, Mapf ulagasha said he wasn’t concerned, indeed he preferred to remain in the shadows.
It was a pity he didn’t have his five minutes of fame because Mapfulagasha’s story is worth telling. In the 1970s he started a club called Benfica. The Lisbon connections were minimal, Mapfulagasha receiving inspiration from a Champion of Champions clash between Benfica Thokoza and Kaizer Chiefs. He was slightly injured as part of the crowd during the match and when he returned home a relieved man, his mind was made up — he wanted a slice of the fabled football pie. “After that game I just said I wanted to start my own team.”
Benfica was formed and, in time, became the Khakhu Fast XI, who transformed themselves into Mapate Silver Stars and later became Tycoon Silver Stars, Mapate making way for Tycoon in the club title because that was Mapfulagasha’s nickname.
It was during the club’s incarnation as Mapate Silver Stars that Larry Brookstone became involved with Mapfulagasha. While the duo’s relationship has been stormy, it is also fair to say that, in a sense, neither man nor the club have looked back. Both have sold hefty portions of their stake to Royal Bafokeng Holdings Ltd (RBH), although they are still significant financial players with 24.5% apiece. Brookstone will remain the club’s CEO, while Mapfulagasha will presumably slip back into relative obscurity an extremely wealthy man.
Stars themselves will creep further into the limelight as RBH concentrate on getting a hefty bang for their considerable buck. Subject to the PSL’s ratification, they will shortly undergo another name change and Platinum Stars will probably start the new season where Silver Stars left off last week.
The new name is a smart one, a means of unifying what has only been sporadic community support for the club. They will be based at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Phokeng, outside Rustenburg, and it is hoped that in time the people of the North West will come to see the Platinum Stars as their own.
“The stadium won’t be fully functional next season due to World Cup refurbishments — we need to extend the grandstand, for instance, and increase our seating from 40 000 to 45 000,” says Niall Carroll, CEO of RBH.
“We’re planning on rotating the team through the North West, playing at Olympia in Rustenburg, Potchefstroom and Zeerust.”
Eventually the entire club is expected to be shifted to the Platinum belt, although the move is not without its logistical and emotional problems.
Coach Owen Da Gama likes the idea of the move, although he emphasises that relocation should be sensibly handled and gradual.
“I was reading an interview with Edries Burton [formerly of Santos] the other day and he said the Royal Bafokeng pitch was the best pitch in the country. You don’t want to practis e on it regularly, though, because that will damage it, so we’ll need good practice facilities nearby if the entire club moves to the North West.”
As the Royal Bafokeng and their advisers have thought about purchasing the club for months if not years, this has been considered. They are planning a modern training facility in the vicinity, as well as taking soccer to the children and teenagers in the area. It is hoped the facilities will attract foreign clubs during their winter break or pre-season.
“With the wildlife reserves in the area, we see it as a chance to experience the beautiful game,” quips Carroll.
While the Bafokeng’s initiative doesn’t lack ambition, it is also highly unusual. The traditional model of a club’s development is that it grows in conjunction with community support; what Brookstone, Mapfulagasha and the Royal Bafokeng have done is to invert the model, with the Bafokeng community now owning the club. It’s a notable first and listening to the people who matter it seems it’s going to be handled with care and rare thoughtfulness. Under-resourced and under-supported, Stars finished the season in second spot. With the local community behind them they might yet be able to take that final giant step.
