Motivational.Inspirational

Based: Johannesburg

Marks Mafa Maponyane is a man of many talents. He has played professional football for more than 17 years, been a sales executive for two top sports brands adidas and Reebok, is a motivational speaker and a football analyst.

Born in Meadowlands, Soweto, in 1962 “Go-Man-Go”, as he is called by his fans, played for the Kaizer Chiefs Football Club from 1981-1991, captaining the side from 1985-1988. He later played for the now defunct Dynamos, Orlando Pirates and Wits University Football Club.

Maponyane’s accolades are many. He was the 1983 South African Footballer of the Year and South African Sport Hero of the Year. In 1987 and 1994 he was again crowned South African Footballer of the Year, making him the only South African to achieve this title on more than one occasion.

Maponyane played in the first South African team to be selected after the ban to play international football was lifted in 1992.

Since 1990 he has been a motivational speaker who helps companies with teamwork, accepting changes in the workplace and issues affecting society like gender issues, to name a few. Having retired from professional football, he runs his own business, Marks Maponyane & Associates cc, which does corporate gifts and clothing.

Maponyane also works for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as an analyst and commentator – he was part of the team that broadcast the historic 2010 FIFA World Cup™.