Prof. Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Mr Michel Litsili, Former Bloemfontein Celtic player, Mr Victor Mahatanya, one of the founders of Bloemfontein Celtics, Mr Molefi Mika, Author of the two books entitled Dance Siwelele and Resilient Ntate Molemela, Mrs Catherine Mathobisa, Wife to the late Mr Norman Mathobisa who was also one of the founding members of Celtics and Mr Sello Molemela, son of the late Dr Petrus ‘Whitehead’ Molemela.

The Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) joined hands with the Molemela family, supporters and authors on 15 July 2019, to celebrate and launch the two books titled Dance Siwelele and Resilient Ntate Molemela that were written by Mr Molefi Mika, former Sowetan Sports Editor and Mr Teboho Setena, Researcher and current Editor of Express Newspaper.

Dance Siwelele is based on the rich history of the establishment of Bloemfontein Celtic founders; the founding generation of players and ownership, as well as the uniqueness of staunch supporters, whose singing and dancing, is unmatched. Resilient Ntate Molemela is a comprehensive and inspiring biography of the late Dr Petrus Molemela who managed Celtic for a period of more than 20 years. The biography details his triumphs through tribulations from childhood while being mocked and ridiculed before becoming a notable entrepreneur in business and football administrator, as the owner of Celtic.

CUT’s relationship with Dr Rantlai Molemela dates back to 2006 when he was awarded an Honorary degree (honoris causa) Doctor Technologiae: Management, for his contribution in sports development in the Central Region and South Africa.

When welcoming the guests at the book launch, Prof. Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal said that CUT as a public university automatically becomes a university for the people of the region, South Africa and beyond. He spoke of Dr Molelema as a fearless sports administrator who made huge contributions to the soccer fraternity in South Africa. “It is an honour for us as a university to be associated with Dr Molemela. He was an intellectual, entrepreneur, political activist, community leader and a gallant who remains part of our own narrative of where we come from, the advancements we have made, and the future we are building for the people of this community, and for generations to come. Dr Molemela will forever be a part of us as one of our buildings is also named after him.” 

Mr Molefe Mika, former Sowetan Sports Editor and author, said “When good things happen in sports, we turn to forget easily. If you work in the media fraternity, you don’t realise that your role is also to help as a main stakeholder, we tend to forget that we are the watchdogs in sports. The birth of these books and the story of Ntate Molemela and Celtics are of historic importance and needs to be documented so that the coming generations can know about him and the selfless contributions he made towards the development of soccer in this country, not forgetting the sacrifices and commitment made by supporters.