Son of Jessica Motaung, Kenneth Simmons lll has been excelling in the Chiefs youth ranks. Son of Jessica Motaung, Kenneth Simmons lll has been excelling in the Chiefs youth ranks. Picture: Kaizer Chiefs
Johannesburg - The Motaung lineage is continuing on the football pitch, with Jessica Motaung’s son Kenneth Simmons lll the latest player to play for Kaizer Chiefs.
Before founding the club in 1970, Chiefs’ el supremo Kaizer Motaung was a footballer who is said to have had a brilliant left foot in his playing days.
His eldest children, son, Bobby and daughter, Jessica ventured into administration, becoming the manager and marketing director at Chiefs.
It was Motaung’s youngest son Kaizer Motaung Jr who started off as a footballer, cutting his teeth abroad before playing for Chiefs in the 2000s.
Kaizer Jr retired in 2014 as he focused on his studies, before he became the club’s new sporting director early last year in a newly-created position.
But in recent weeks, it has emerged that the Motaungs have unleashed a new generation on the pitch, with Jessica’s son Simmons playing in Amakhosi’s Under-17 team.
The lanky striker has already lifted silverware for the Chiefs this year, having won the provincial Gauteng Development League title.
And with first team coach Arthur Zwane fond of young players, given that he used to coach the youth teams, Simmons will want to impress him.
Zwane hasn’t shied away from giving young players a chance in the first team, with reserve sensation Mduduzi Shabalala recently having been promoted.
The second half of the season is going to be taxing for Chiefs and they will need all the help they can get, which is why Simmons and his peers have to be ready.
IOL Sport