POLOKWANE – The 2012 Comrades Marathon winner, Ludwick Mamabolo, accused the Limpopo provincial government of dragging its feet in assisting him.
Last month, Mamabolo lashed out at the Limpopo provincial government, saying they should do more to recognise and look after athletes in the province.
He said the provincial government should support him and assist him financially because he needed to feed his family.
He said he was offered a job in Durban and the Limpopo government needed to act quickly to keep him in the province.
According to Mamabolo, he was still waiting for the Limpopo Sports Confederation to respond to his request last week.
Lifutso Lebaka, Mamabolo’s personal assistant, said Mamabolo received numerous job offers and the provincial government could lose him if they didn’t act quickly.
“Mamabolo is a good man and the best athlete. He has a family to look after and we urge the government to act swiftly to keep him in the province.
“It seems like government only focuses on soccer and rugby stars, but sidelines athletes,” said Lebaka.
She said Mamabolo was a wonderful person who gave back to the community.
“He established an athletic club called Tshwarano Podium Athletics Club, which is situated in Kempton Park,” she said.
At the time of Mamabolo’s request, Joe Mahomole, the president of the Limpopo Sports Confederation, said the confederation would look into his case and find ways to assist other athletes as well.
He said the issue was top on their priority list and they would deal with it as soon as possible. He also said it was an issue that needed to be addressed and they needed to attach a budget to it.
However, Lebaka said nothing had since been done by the confederation.
Mahomole was unavailable for comment by the time of going to print.
