Can somebody out there please stand up and vouch for Mamelodi Sundowns president Patrice Motsepe.

Can somebody out there please stand up and vouch for Mamelodi Sundowns president Patrice Motsepe.

The much-raved-about mining magnate appeared to have said something in the vicinity of the truth during an interview with Walter Mokoena on the MTN Soccer Zone on Monday.

Motsepe claimed to have played soccer in Swaziland, where he was apparently called Masterpieces (after the legendary Lucas "Masterpieces" Moripe of Pretoria Callies), due to his prowess on the field of play.

However, what triggered our suspicion was that the BEE tycoon first ducked the question when asked if he ever played football himself.

Seemingly deliberately, the colourful mining magnate strayed away from the question and mumbled something about the fact that he was born in Orlando, Soweto, and grew up in Pretoria. This had nothing to do with his former football exploits.

Naturally, Mokoena repeated the question, which paved the way for Motsepe's not-so-truthful statements.

We need to know whether indeed Motsepe played football, at what level and who he played with in Swaziland.

We need this information for the simple reason: To make sure that our kids are not contaminated with the unnecessary tendency to modify the truth. Otherwise, we will breed future generations with the predisposition to embellish the facts.

Masterpieces was dazzling. He was a marvel to watch. Can the Swazis or Motsepe's former teammates at university come forward and testify for him?

Ishmael Modiba and Babushi Maimela,

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