Chronicle Editor
Local football fans have slammed the Premier Soccer League (PSL) for going ahead with a game between Mamelodi Sundowns and TS Galaxy as the nation mourns the death of Sundowns defender Motjeka Madisha.
The 25-year-old died in a car crash in the early hours of Sunday morning after the vehicle he and another person were travelling in crashed into a steel pole near Kempton Park.
City of Ekurhuleni disaster and emergency management services spokesperson William Ntladi said when his team arrived on the scene the vehicle was still burning.
“We managed to contain the blaze and extinguished it. And then, following information that there was still somebody trapped inside (the vehicle)‚ we did search and rescue (but) could not distinguish whether it was a male or female inside‚ given the state of the body inside the vehicle.
“There was another person lying outside next to the vehicle‚ (who) also sustained critical burn wounds on the upper body. These two occupants (found) at the scene were declared dead by paramedics.”
Madisha’s death sent shock waves across the country and led to an outpouring of emotional tributes.
Many felt Sundown’s match, scheduled to kick off just two days after the accident, should have been postponed to allow his family, the club and its supporters to grieve Madisha’s death.
However, reports claim the PSL rejected a request from Sundowns to postpone the fixture and TS Galaxy’s media manager Minenhle Mkhize confirmed to TimesLIVE on Monday that the game would go ahead.
Fans were fuming at the decision and made their feelings known on social media, making the hashtag #PostponeSundownsMatch the top trend on Twitter.
Many brought slips, comparing it to the postponement of fixtures after Senzo Meyiwa’s death in 2014 and accusing the football body’s bosses of bias. – TimesLive
Online Reporter