Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation visits late Bafana Bafana player’s family
The former football player was a Chartwell resident, and was part of the South African squad that won the 1996 African Cup of Nations tournament.
In a Chartwell household, the family of the late South African football legend John ‘Dungi’ Moeti talked silently while they waited for members of the Gauteng sports department to visit.
The MEC for Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation Morakane Mosupyoe and her colleagues visited the family to convey their condolences.
Moeti passed away at age 55 on February 6 after battling an illness for eight months. He was surrounded by his family when he died.
Moeti was part of the Bafana Bafana team that won the 1996 African Cup of Nations two years into the country’s democracy. Between 1995 and 1999, he represented his country 29 times. Adding to his football accolades, he was a player for Orlando Pirates when the Buccaneers became the first South African club to win the African Champions League in 1995 and later captained the team.
Yaseen Lombard, secretary general for the Gauteng Sports Confederation and Ntasko Mogobe, technical advisor for the MEC were among the attendees who conveyed their condolences to the Moeti family. “We are here to appreciate the life that inspired us as young people. We grew up in families that loved soccer, and in communities that used soccer to teach us discipline as young people,” Mogobe said.
“Through trying to emulate the life of John, some of us were able to mould ourselves from our different backgrounds and become something else in life.”
Moeti’s passion for football extended to education. He home-schooled his four children and later taught children from his community.
Mosupyoe extended her deepest condolences to the family and said, “In the department of sports, there is a specialised way in which we work with legends. I would have loved to have worked with him in the way he worked with the youth to give them better choices in life.
“I would like to, and hope if we get the opportunity, to still work with the family in that space.”
Victor Rakhale, the spokesperson for the family, thanked the members of the department for their visit and kind words during this time of grief. “On behalf of the Moeti family, thank you very much for being here. We hope that there will be further engagements between yourself, your office and the family,” he said.
The former football player is set to be buried in a private ceremony after a memorial service on February 11.
Share your thoughts on the Fourways Review Facebook page.
Related articles:
