The legendary former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker, famously known in the football fraternity as ‘The Dog’, will be laid to rest in his hometown of Durban on June 15, a day before the commemoration of the June 16 Youth Uprising.
Barker, the man who epitomised the success of Bafana Bafana after winning the country’s first Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in 1996, just a few years after the re-admission of the country back into the world governing body of football, Fifa, and the Confederation of African Football (Caf), died on June 10 aged 78 after a battle with illness.
Since the news of his death broke, condolences for the legendary coach and skillful master tactician of the beautiful game have been pouring in just like the winter rains of the Western Cape that have spread and engulfed most parts of the country.
The condolences have come from as high up as the Minister of Sport Zinzi Kodwa and filtered down to the president of the football body in the country, the South African Football Association Dr Danny Jordaan, and the chairperson of the prestigious professional league, the Premier Soccer League Dr Irvin ‘Iron Duke’ Khoza.
Also caught in the filtration web were his subjects of the 1996 Afcon triumph, former Bafana Bafana players of the Class of 1996, such as Doctor Khumalo, Mark Williams, Steve Crawley, Mark Fish, captain Neil Tovey, Andrea Arendse just to name a few.
They all described him, not only as a coach but as a brother and father figure who understood the demands of humanity for his players whenever there was an issue or problem to be attended to, and would grant them that space to heal or deal with the issue at hand.
“Clive not only epitomised a flying plane in his celebration of Bafana’s success but literally flew the team to the desired success and even took them to their first World Cup in France,” Jordaan said.
Khoza described him as a man who believed in democracy until the end. “To him, the diversity of the South African nation was a strength and not a weakness. It was ungodly to use this diversity to divide people,” he said.
“He defied the Group Areas Act by travelling and coaching in the townships without a permit. The mighty God rewarded him by winning the Afcon in the new democratic South Africa.
“Your dad had a calling. Please accept our prayers of gratitude. Your father was a godsend on a mission of God and may his soul repose peacefully,” Khoza said in a message written to ‘The Dog’s son, Gavin Barker.
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