Maritzburg players given time off as club mourn's loss of talented Dlamini

Maritzburg United players were told the shock news of the death of team-mate Mlondi Dlamini at a meeting on Monday morning and immediately given the next two days off as the club reels again from tragedy.

Funeral details will now be finalised with his family after the 20-year old Dlamini was killed on Sunday afternoon in a car accident near Cato Ridge while returning from Durban.

Just over 18 months ago‚ United lost Mondli Cele in a car accident which hit the club hard and was also driving back from Durban.

While Cele was driving the car‚ Dlamini was a passenger in the vehicle he was traveling in.

“We will announce more details of the funeral and the players will return on Wednesday to see how we take this forward‚” general manager Quintin Jettoo told TimesLIVE on Monday morning.

Maritzburg are set to resume their league campaign away to Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth next week Wednesday.

Dlamini‚ born in Howick‚ started three games for Maritzburg late last season after he emerged through their junior ranks and he made his debut in April against Chippa.

A calf injury during pre-season training meant he had not seen any action this season as he was on the road to recovery.

Dlamini was one of the nominees for the Multi Choice Diski Player of the Season last season and in 2015 he was chosen as the player of the season in the Kay Motsepe League while representing Sukuma High School.