Bafana
Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund is devastated by the untimely death of his
assistant Thomas 'Chincha Guluva' Madigage, who passed away in a car accident
in the early hours of Friday morning (19 October 2012).
"I
have known Tommy for many years, he was not only my assistant, he was much more
than that. He was a friend. Since working together, he had become part of my
family. You can't get a better human being than what Tommy was. He was humble,
loyal, committed and sincere. He was so happy to be a part of the Bafana Bafana
set-up and he had so much to contribute," said Igesund.
The
coach added that Madigage's death was not only a loss to the national team, but
to the whole country.
"Tommy,
who was a committed ZCC member, still had so much to contribute to the country
and his loss will be felt by all South Africans. He was so looking forward to
the Nations Cup finals and it will be very difficult to participate without
him. We will dedicate our Nations Cup campaign to him,“ added the head coach.
"My
whole technical team, including assistant coach Serame Letsoaka and goalkeeper
coach Alex Heredia are deeply saddened by the loss and our thoughts and prayers
go out to his family."
Igesund
concluded by saying that such tragedies placed football into the perspective.
"We
often think that football is very important, but compared to this, it is
nothing."
Hamba
Kahle Tommy!
NB:
The coach humbly requests members of the media not to contact him for further
statements for the time being.
