Teko Modise is keeping it real

Six years after hanging up his Cape Town City boots in 2019, football legend Teko Modise has reclaimed his mojo.

These days, the 42-year-old, whose club career includes playing for Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns, is no longer energised by pleasing demanding coaches, dealing with adoring fans, or securing lucrative contracts.

Modise has found post-retirement success in fashion, broadcasting, and the boardroom. Style, in particular, has given him the freedom to express himself and he reveals that he’s in the “advanced stages” of an exciting clothing venture with African Fashion International (AFI).

But, in order to make such a transition, Modise agrees that there had to be introspection and change — he needed to lower his defences.

“People think I’m arrogant, but maybe that has changed over the years. I had to work hard to remove that tag,” he says. “I needed to get rid of the wall. I built such a high wall and was very protective of my name. But [this] was also because I was insecure based on how the media portrayed me.”

Admittedly, it’s not his favourite topic, but Modise experienced terrible childhood trauma. Born in Meadowlands, Soweto, his father kicked him out when he was eight. Describing himself as a “street kid”, he would end up moving around a lot, which he hated.

“Many people, if they were to go through what I went through, would have not survived. I wasn’t supposed to make it. At every household I stayed I was chased out, until the last house, when I was scouted,” he remembers. “Football saved my life. I’m grateful to be here because I fought and worked hard to find myself in better spaces so that my kids wouldn’t have to taste even a bit of what I went through.”

As a boy, Modise didn’t know where his mother was, saying that his father kept them apart. His mother would eventually come back for him after learning that he was living on the street — only to drop him off at his great-grandmother’s house. “She hated my guts,” he remembers of his great-grandmother.

His mother later returned and they lived together. But it was hardly a stable environment, as they moved around and he had many stepfathers. “I was the most ridiculed footballer in SA at one stage, which caused a lot of insecurity,” Modise says. “I never had an opportunity to defend myself and those insecurities are still there. I always wanted to be known as a footballer. I was insecure about how I had grown up and used to be jealous of people going home to be with their families. I didn’t want people to know where I’d come from and have them pity me. But when the media started digging, things started coming out.”

At 17, Modise got his big break when he was scouted by City Pillars. His years in Limpopo, between 2002 and 2006, shaped his football career. “I was isolated because I didn’t have friends in Limpopo and that helped me a lot. After years of staying there and coming back to Joburg I was ready to be the Teko Modise who everyone knows,” he says. “The reason I stayed longer in Limpopo was because that was the first time in my life that I felt loved. The owner of the club took care of me. He treated me like I was his kid and he my father. I belonged.”

Modise prides himself on being a master of reinvention. But the transformation on and off the field has not been easy, and he has relied on the mentorship of the likes of veteran sportscaster Robert Marawa. “As a soccer player, you are used to doing the same thing over and over for years. Venturing into something new is always challenging and at times you are scared,” he says. “But I took a leap of faith and trusted that, if I failed, I had nobody to blame. In that transition I tapped into what I liked and I discovered that I love clothes. I’m not a big talker, but through clothes I can express myself.”

Creating a post-retirement template for those coming after him has been paramount. “It seemed seamless to others, but it was difficult to be in a boardroom with people who had gone to school,” Modise admits. “My insecurities started to kick in a bit, but once I was accepted, I took the responsibility upon myself [to ensure that] those who come after me will reach greater heights than me.”

Modise observes that the way society views football has changed — it’s no longer solely about having skills on the football field. Local sport stars can achieve stardom by fusing their talent with good looks, a charming personality, and great style. He watches with awe how rugby player Makazole Mapimpi’s gregarious personality shines on TikTok and wishes he could have mirrored that when he played.

“The clubs are protective because football in SA is run like a culture. We also don’t have a history of footballers speaking well in the media,” he says. “So, we understand why they are so protective because those are the people who pay you, they are protective of their brands. They don’t give you the freedom to be so expressive of your personality outside of football.”

Taking his cue from Mapimpi, he plans to give fans more carefree content on social media. “I’m still scared,” he confesses. “I used to shoot a lot of content and then take it down on Instagram. I’m still struggling to find the balance between ‘am I bragging or is this who I am’?”