Our History

South Africa employed the inspired leadership and management skills of Nelson Mandela and his class in the early nineties to take us to the next level when confronted with the near certain political disaster precipitated by decades of the inhumanity of apartheid.

The precipice of the early nineties is becoming more probable each passing day as the country fails to unravel its socio-economic morass. Central to the failure to address the socio-economic challenges are three primary issues. The first and most harmful one, particularly in the long term, is the failure of our society to make large numbers of our youth learn and benefit from their educational careers.

In the medium term, the challenge is the failure of our society to get large numbers of our workers to be committed and productive. The two issues above hinge on one immediate term failure of our society: the collective failure of will and skill to find and deploy men and women of sound integrity and competence to function both as effective leaders and role models.

In short, the biggest undoing of our society is lack of leadership and accountability, which form foundations of all progressive societies. Many people in our rural villages, towns and cities, whether they are at school, working or just at home, suffer from those two things. Many people would perform their functions significantly better if provided with effective leadership and protection from abuse by the next person.

Montshepetja Academy is an organisation that was established in 2001 at Moletlane in the Zebediela district of the Limpopo province. The name Montshepetja means the one who walks with me or makes me walk in Sotho. In brief, it means a companion. Montshepetja Academy, as its primary goal, provides companionship and mentorship to capable people in order to build the calibre of people our society needs as leaders to fulfil the dream of liberty and prosperity.

The organisation started as a sport based initiative to provide young community members with a meaningful structure and facility to spend their leisure time in a constructive manner. Its other objective was to allow older people opportunities to learn leadership and management roles by sharing time and space with young people with a chance to develop knowledge and skills.

For more than seven years, the institution has been providing valuable social education and entertainment opportunities to its stakeholders by organising, sponsoring and managing sporting tournaments and other relevant activities for the benefit of its individual members, clubs and communities.

In line with its management’s vision to provide much-needed lifelong companionship to its members and other interested members of our society, Montshepetja evolved and became a total talent management organisation. People development programmes such as leadership and management, mentorship and coaching, personal and career development as well as life skills in general were introduced.

Although the academy has yet to produce any big stars, the institution is extremely proud of the constructive roles it has played in the lives of its members and supporters. The organisation`s management has always been happy for it to play any role from keeping a child away from drugs to helping a community member to derive infotainment value to helping a worker to gain a better perspective on or control of their job. The pinnacle of its efforts, of course, has been to help prepare people for lives of significance by making them more conscious, responsible and competent, in line with the organisation`s grand strategy.

Achievements

• Provided mentorship and companionship to individual members of our management team as well as many others as demonstrated on our website: www.montshepetja.co.za
• Created value within our base communities through our talent management champions in line with our strategic programme
• Provided support in the form of expertise and physical resources to strategic community organisations such as Montshepetja Academy soccer and netball teams, Bathokwa FC, Klerksdorp FC, etc.
• Provided a group of approximately 30 young boys an opportunity to play soccer under protected and supervised conditions for five years from 2003 to 2008
• Provided hundreds of young soccer players from surrounding communities an opportunity to play soccer by participating through their clubs in activities sponsored and managed by Montshepetja Academy
• Provided entertainment value to supporters of soccer and other community members who attended and watched our tournaments

Challenges

Financial backing, competent management personnel, partnerships with professional institutions

Our Leadership

Montshepetja Academy is a brainchild of its current Executive Chairman, namely Gibson Sakong. Gibson is a corporate crime risk manager with almost twenty years of experience in the gold mining industry. He is an ardent soccer administrator and supporter who has spent considerable amounts of personal and organisational resources managing and promoting the game at amateur level.

Gibson believes that the many years he has spent in people oriented fields such as crime risk management and soccer administration have been very valuable. He believes they have left him better prepared to contribute to the mammoth challenge of talent management confronting both individuals and institutions in the democratic South Africa.

He is a high performance advocate and believes that our society should leverage its human, knowledge, technical and financial resources in order to create new, inclusive and sustainable models of success, inspired by a spirit of entrepreneurship and service.

He counts leadership and management, mentorship and coaching, community development and soccer administration as the primary interests of his life. The rest of the management team members are George Sakong as General Manager, Mmapula Hlanga as Secretary, Kabelo Sakong as Brand Manager, Jerry Mogotlane as Communications Manager, Eric Mbuyazi as Marketing Manager, David Leolo as Head Coach and Thato Sakong as Team Manager

Gibson Sakong`s profile and other relevant documents related to him are available for informational purposes on the website: www.montshepetja.co.za

Profile of Gibson Sakong (Mr)

1. Background

There were many deprivations or challenges for me to deal with as I grew up in the rural village of my origin. The significant challenges could be categorised into two broad classes. Those that I could already do something about as a young individual and those that were more environmental and I had a limited impact on.

Among the significant challenges were hunger, lack of clothes, punishment and lack of knowledge. In terms of hunger, I had to endure virtually twelve years of attending school on an empty stomach. As regards clothes, I battled right till my last year at school to have a proper uniform. That is to say nothing about the issues of what to wear at home or away from school.

Punishment was part of my daily life from two perspectives: I was physically beaten or lashed for making mistakes such as failing tests or arriving late for school. I was punished in the same way at home. I was punished if I overstayed the time allowed to spend with friends or I failed to perform my duties in the family, like looking after our animals or other chores related to them.

There was very little I could do with hunger and lack of proper clothing at that early stage of my life. They resulted not only from the economic status of my family and others. They were also a product of the level of understanding or consciousness within my family as well as within my community in general. Many parents, including mine, had not in their youthful days attended any schooling or spent enough time at it in order to allow them to appreciate the value of family support for a child attending school.

Although there were a few times when I was punished for things I could not understand, punishment was mostly predictable. I could stay out of trouble by obeying rules or fulfilling requirements. I could wake up early and get to school on time, work hard to do my homework and pass tests as well as carry out my duties as related to the family. In other words, I could improve my discipline and stay consistently out of trouble.

However, all those things I did to stay out of trouble were not going to mean much in the end if I just stayed out of trouble. They were simply compliance mechanisms and were never on their own going to make my life a success or create for me the sense of significance I desired. Real progress depended on something very different. It depended on discovering what could make a real difference, taking the time and space created with improved discipline to work on making the difference.

Around the age of twelve I discovered that learning, mainly through reading on my own and taking part in activities that could add value, could make the biggest, most reliable and sustainable difference. The difference that my knowledge and skills made in my life did not only assist my development through home and school.

It also helped me to battle for and win my space in the world of work as well as prepare me for the contribution I want to make in my community and society. For more than thirty years, my level of knowledge or consciousness has been the one light that assisted me to find my little path among the mountains of debris decimating our society.

2. Personal

• Name: Rampakubu Gibson Sakong
• Nickname: Mr Chairman
• Date of Birth: 06 October 1967
• Place of Birth: Moletlane, Zebediela, Limpopo, RSA

3. Current Positions and Projects

• Corporate Security Manager – AngloGold Ashanti
• Executive Chairman – Montshepetja Academy
• Chairman – Bathokwa Football Club
• Head of Business Strategy and Finance – Montshepetja Business

4. Academic Qualifications

• B-Tech Degree in Security Risk Management from Unisa in 2007
• National Diploma in Security Management from Unisa in 2004
• IMDP from AGA, Maccauvlei and the University of Stellenbosch in 2000
• Matriculation from Chitah Kekana High School in 1986

5. Previous Positions and Other Activities

• Security Superintendent of West Wits Services (2009)
• Security Superintendent of West Wits Operations (2008-2009)
• Security Superintendent of Kopanang and Tau Lekoa Mines in Orkney
• Team Manager of Vaal Reefs City Football Club in Orkney
• Team Manager of Klerksdorp Football Club in Klerksdorp
• Chairman of Soccer at Kopanang Mine (2004-2008)
• Security Superintendent at Kopanang Mine in Orkney
• Team Manager of West Wits Soccer Team (2001-2004)
• Head Coach of TauTona Soccer Team (2003-2004)
• Security Superintendent of TauTona Mine (1999-2004)
• Senior Security Officer (HOD) of Mponeng Mine (1998)
• Various mid-level positions within the Security Department of AngloGold Ashanti
• Various leadership positions at Arsenal Football Club (amateur) in Carletonville, including captain, head coach and chairman
• Various positions at Bathokwa Football Club (amateur) at Moletlane, Zebediela, Limpopo, including captain, caretaker, secretary, manager
• Attendance monitor at Chitah Kekana High School

6. Career Highlights

• Appointment as Corporate Security Manager for AngloGold Ashanti in 2009
• Appointment as Security Superintendent for three operations at West Wits in 2008
• Completion of a National Diploma and a B-Tech Degree by correspondence (2002-2007)
• Leadership of teams that transformed soccer at West Wits and Kopanang (2001-2008)
• Establishment and leadership of Montshepetja Academy since 2001
• Appointment as Security Superintendent at TauTona Mine in 1999

7. Values

Discipline, Talent, Courage, Integrity, Service and Significance

8. Honours

• Won the AngloGold Ashanti Chairman`s Cup soccer competition in 2004, 2005 and 2006 as Chairman
• Won the Mining News Inter-Mine soccer completion as in 2003 as Strategy Manager
• Won numerous soccer league and cup competitions as Head Coach at Arsenal Football Club
• Won best work team award as Shift-leader in 1993 and 1994
• Won the top student award in 1992 as a trainee security manager
• Won Patrolman of the year award in 1992

9. Greatest Achievement

Space and skills to live according to my values and principles and make my humble contribution

10. Strategy

Philosophy: I believe that Counting Blessings is greater than Complaining Endlessly

Vision: I want to be Number One in the World, not in a village, a town or a city

Mission: I use my Education, Career and Business to benefit Self, Family and Community

Strategy: I utilize Consciousness, Responsibility and Competence to achieve Service and Significance

Motto: I Never Complain because I Know the Power to Change things lies Within Me

11. Challenges

The patience to appreciate my blessings and the courage to pursue my life`s purpose