Detainment of Gallants officials in Libya taking toll on their families

The detainment in Libya of two Marumo Gallants officials, Rufus Matsena and Tebogo Dhlomo, is taking a heavy toll on their families.

Media officer Matsena and physiotherapist Dhlomo have been stuck in the country for more than two weeks since their team's 4-1 Confederation Cup defeat there against Al Akhdar. This after the club allegedly failed to pay money owed to businessman and hotel owner Ali Elzargha. 

Speaking to TimesLIVE on Thursday morning, Matsena’s younger brother, Sello Matsena, said Rufus's continued detention was negatively affecting his frail mother, who is “in her late 80s”. 

“To be honest, this thing is very straining. We have a difficult situation here, where we must find a way of explaining to his elderly and frail mother why he has not come back home,” Sello said. 

“The old lady knows that most of the time he is away for a few days, but this time he has been away for almost three weeks. His mother is very old and we have to hide some of these things from her because they may affect her health.

“As a family, we are sitting here in South Africa and he is out there in Libya and we can’t help him. It is difficult for me personally. Even if I send him money it won’t help because he doesn’t have his passport with him and his movement is limited. 

“I am helpless and sometimes I can’t sleep because we don’t know what is happening out there. This thing is taking its toll on us as a family and his children are not coping because they don’t know if they will ever see their father again.  

“Sometimes we can’t get hold of him, you would call him and he only comes back after a long time. The other thing is that it is Ramadan and we are also worried about what will happen if the owner chases him out of the hotel.” 

Sello said there had been little communication from Gallants and the government. “We have just seen media statements from Marumo Gallants, but we know nothing.” 

Gallants have apparently settled the bill for staying at Elzargha's Benghazi hotel.

But the club and Elzargha disagree on costs incurred for the Libyan in assisting the club with a private plane from Istanbul to Benghazi after the team became stranded in Turkey due to flights being full on the Ramadan holiday. Elzargha apparently also assisted with travel in the city and arranging a new playing kit after Gallants' strip went missing during the travel confusion.

Matsena and Dhlomo apparently remained in Libya to settle the bill, but the size of the amount surprised Gallants, with Elzargha demanding R675,000. 

Various government departments and the South African Football Association (Safa) are negotiating for their return.

TimesLIVE

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