‘Only education can beat poverty’
Tshwane Municipality city manager Moeketsi Emmanuel Mosola said he was humbled that he was awarded a PhD in human movement sciences in the area of business of sports finance during the spring graduation at the University of Pretoria yesterday.
“This degree is another reminder that we still live in a country where millions of our people still do not have access to higher education,” said Mosola said. “I hope in my small way as city manager I can continue to inspire young people, both in our city and our country, to tell them that crime does not pay.
“There is no shortcut to success and education is fundamental in dealing with issues of poverty and creating job opportunities for South Africans.”
Mosola manages 14 city depart- ments and his skills in the private and government sectors, as well as his academic experience and education, come in handy in executing his job.
“We have to make sure that those we appoint have the necessary skills and education,” he said.
“The city is accountable to all the people of the city, irrespective of political affiliation.
“We have to make sure that even a young Afrikaner in the city knows that they too have a place in the sun.
“We can do that by opening up job opportunities in the city. They have to start seeing people that look like them also.”
Mosola said he was touched to have shared his graduation with his mother Eugenia Mosola, 67, and his children, especially since he was the first in his family to graduate from high school, get a degree and now a PhD.
In terms of the significance of his study, the first of its kind, Mosola formulated an African professional football business model for the effective management of professional soccer in Africa. According to his key conclusion, the African professional football business model contains similar variables like the European professional football business and generic business models. These variables are value proposition, target consumer, infrastructure capabilities, financial aspects and other key factors.
This key conclusion confirmed that the identified variables in the model are indeed appropriate to use as a basis for designing an African professional football business model, and that the African professional football leagues and clubs that incorporate these variables into their professional football business model stand to be more commercially successful than those who do not.