LIMPOPO – Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns defender, Motjeka Madisha, was laid to rest at Ga-Madisha village in the Zebediela area on Saturday.
Madisha perished in a car accident on 12 December in Gauteng, but his family delayed his funeral to verify DNA tests results.
According to tweets by Vusi Ntimane, police officials wanted to arrest Madisha’s parents at the funeral for allegedly contravening regulations under the Disaster Management Act.
Even on the cemetery we made sure only 50 people attended. Other people just started singing at the gate. While police were there watching. Not at any point they informed the family of any violation of covid 19 regulations. Motjeka Madisha was laid to rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/JUKjXDyVVT
— Vusi Ntimane (@manghumani) February 7, 2021
They couldn't arrest Madisha's parents due to the community resistance. They left and comeback after 2 hours with rifles and again the community stood up and chased them away. We even offered ourselves to be arrested instead of Madisha's parents. pic.twitter.com/c2xVnpwTew
— Vusi Ntimane (@manghumani) February 7, 2021
Police Spokesperson, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed to Review that Madisha’s father was arrested.
“He was charged for the contravention of the regulations under the Disaster Management Act, and subsequently paid an admission of guilt fine,” Mojapelo added.
Review’s attempts to contact Madisha’s family for comment were unsuccessful.
The 25-year-old defender earned 13 caps for Bafana Bafana between 2015 and 2020, scoring once. He had a Confederation of African Football Champions League winners’ medal, three league titles, as well as Telkom Knockout and Nedbank cup honours.
Madisha previously played for both the national u/20 and u/23 teams.
Speaking on behalf of the Provincial Government, Sport MEC, Thandi Moraka described Madisha as a talented and humble young man whose life was changed when he chose to pursue football as a career.
“The football and sports fraternity in the province, the country and the world at large are sad by his passing.”
She added that Madisha contributed a lot to the promotion of sports in this province. “We have lost a legend as a province, may his soul rest in peace,” Moraka said.
The funeral was attended by Mamelodi Sundowns supporters, players and management.