Kaizer Chiefs Embroiled in Ownership Dispute as Man Demands 50% Share of the Club

South African giants Kaizer Chiefs have been thrust in the spotlight over an ownership claim from a man who wants a 50 per cent stake in the club which he claims is rightly his.

Chiefs, which was founded by legendary South African footballer Kaizer Motaung in 1970 upon his return from the United States, where he had played for Atlanta Chiefs, are the most popular club in South Africa.

Before the emergence of Mamelodi Sundowns, they had been the undisputed kings of the Premier Soccer League, and as the Motaung family continues running the club, a 36-year-old South African man is demanding a 50 per cent stake.

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According to City Press, Pretoria businessman Tumelo Selamolela is demanding that Chiefs reinstate his ownership of 50 per cent of the club's shares. Selamolela alleges that the stake originally belonged to his late father and that he should have received the shares upon becoming an adult in 2007.

He further claims that Chiefs have shut out of any payouts in form of dividends to him yet all this was in his late father’s will.

According to an affidavit from Selamolela, he claims that his uncle, who goes by the name Andries, was the sole custodian of the shares which were to be transferred to him when he became an adult.

“During the final quarter of 2024, realising that Kaizer Chiefs would not willingly reinstate my shares or pay me the lost earnings with interest, I embarked on approaching them to resolve the matter out of court, giving them the benefit of the doubt to explain themselves without embarrassment or causing any kind of harm to the business,” Selamolela says in his affidavit published by the outlet.

Selamolela, who claims his deceased father Eric Baloyi bought the shares in 1994, further says that other family members will be brought as witnesses if the matter goes to court.

However, Chiefs have dismissed Selamolela, terming him an opportunist, while questioning where he has been all this time since he became an adult 18 years ago.

“We cannot comment further but the onus is on him [Selamolela] to produce evidence and prove his case. That is why we have courts in this country,” a Chiefs official responded to City Press.