The football fraternity is mourning again following the death of one of its yester-year legends shortly after the passing of former life-president Moss Selolo who died just before lockdown in March last year.
Alfred ‘Ngoti’ Mathibe, a member of the Alexandra Football Veterans Association and a serving member of the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association’s Disciplinary Committee, passed away on 5 January at Edenvale General Hospital aged 78 years following a short illness.
Speaking of her brother, one of his two sisters Christina Ratau said Ngoti, whose football nickname means ‘expert’, was a footballer through and through as he played the game at a tender age right through to his retirement from active play.
“After retirement, my brother was not lost to football as he freely gave off his time to assist in the beautiful game in various capacities. His last assignment until his death was as a member of the disciplinary committee which sought to ensure the game never lost its shine through unscrupulous behaviour and characters,” she said.
Born on 17 February 1944 at number 44 – 11th Avenue, Bra Ngoti, as he is popularly known in Alex and in the football family, first attended primary education at Church Primary School at number 45 – 10th Avenue before moving over to Pholosho to complete his primary education.
He then attended Alexandra High School and completed his Junior Certificate, better known as JC in those days and went to Soweto where he registered at Dube Vocational College for a welding course and worked for Motorola and Multi-Source.
Ngoti leaves behind his wife Poppy Vilakazi and two of his three daughters, one of whom passed away some time ago. He has two grandchildren, a boy and a girl, and one great grandchild. He also leaves behind his two sisters, Ratau and Martha Mathibe.
