Minister
of Sport, Fikile Mbalula said the forthcoming AFCON 2013 must be dedicated to
the late Bafana Bafana assistant coach, Thomas Madigage.
Madigage
who died in a car accident in Burgersfort last week was buried in his home area
of Driekop on Sunday, 28 October 2012.
Addressing
thousands of mourners who included Limpopo Premier, Cassel Mathale, SAFA
President, Kirsten Nematandani, coach Jomo Sono, former ANCYL President, Julius
Malema among thousands of people who came to pay their last respects for the
late Madigage, Mbalula said a road or stadium must be named after Thomas
Madigage.
“We
need to salute the ZCC church for nurturing this exceptional character, a
humble individual in which no grave will be big enough to bury him,” said
Mbalula.
Coach
Sono said apart from being a good footballer, Madigage whom he adopted at the
age of 15, was an intelligent individual and a loyal assistant coach who held
no grudges.
“That
is the reason why the crowd gathered here would shame most of the Premier
Soccer League matches attendances,” said Sono.
Premier
Mathale said it was heartbreaking that the province of Limpopo was burying yet
another of its talent after it had also lost former Orlando Pirates striker
Lesley Manyathela under similar circumstances.
“Fame
never went into his head; he remained selfless, went an extra mile in whatever
he did and was one person who put his country above everything. He was a very
calculating person in making decisions,” said Mathale.
SAFA
President, Nematandani said Madigage was a very principled individual who
believed in teamwork.
“They
say individuals score goals but teamwork wins championships. Here is a man who
was famous but remained very grounded; let us take a leaf from this man,” said
Nematandani.
As
a national player, Madigage won four caps and worked as an assistant coach under
Roy Matthews, Pitso Mosimane and Gavin Hunt.
