Sundowns coach Mngqithi slams Western Cape government for failing to give Ngcongca official funeral

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi fired a salvo at the Western Cape government on Thursday, labelling it “dishonest‚ inhumane‚ untrustworthy” for failing to provide an official funeral for former Bafana Bafana defender Anele Ngcongca.

The Cape Town-born player died in a car crash on the N2 outside Mtunzini, on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, last month and will be buried on Thursday.

Mngqithi‚ who was among a list of speakers who paid tribute to the former KRC Genk player at his funeral‚ said the Western Cape government deprived the people of the province of an opportunity to celebrate the “son of the soil”.

“There is a saying: 'chance favours the prepared mind.'

“You knew you have never played any role in Anele’s success and you have deprived black people of Western Cape an opportunity to celebrate the son of the soil‚” he said.

“I wonder if it was a different race ... I have seen so many people getting provincial funerals who I believe were not even worthy. I see someone who left this province as a young boy and went to shine the flag of the province. He represented you with pride‚ dignity and honour.

“He never failed you‚ everywhere we talk about someone who made Western Cape proud because of the accolades that Anele got‚ let alone playing for Bafana Bafana. I believe the black child in Gugulethu was denied an opportunity to see and celebrate a real role model‚ an opportunity to celebrate one of the best exports from this country.

“You may not like it‚ he was a defender and whatever he achieved it must be a clear signal that this is something to celebrate. We are fighting very hard to try and give our youth a development pathway so that they know that if I want to be successful‚ I must be humble‚ selfless and be humane, but these kids never got that opportunity.

“He was a diamond that came in a small package‚ but I am a nobody to be unhappy because if the leadership were honest‚ trustworthy and humane, they must have seen the need to honour Anele.

“He was competing with Thapelo Morena but still wanted Thapelo to play ahead of him‚ that is how fair he was. The people of Gugulethu, you were blessed. It is very difficult to find fault in a human being like Anele.”

Mngqithi said Ngcongca touched many lives.

“Anele was a very‚ very different person.

“No wonder he has touched so many. He was kind‚ selfless and there was nothing he liked more than winning and nothing he hated more than losing. It is very difficult to know his contribution if you are not a player or tactician.

“When we say he was a leader, what do we mean? In the one of the books by John Maxwell‚ he says a good leader is trustworthy‚ intelligent‚ courageous and humane - and Anele had all those attributes.

“In the society that we live in now‚ we tend to be too big for our shoes, but Anele was not that.”