Malanti Chiefs pay courtesy call to Hon Minister

17 May 2019

The Honourable Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Harries Bulunga today met Malanti Chiefs for the first time since the tragic passing of their midfielder Papy Faty.

Faty, who passed away late last month, was finally buried in his home country of Burundi last week after the completion of the repatriation process. Earlier today, the club’s Director Victor Rodrigues and Public Relations Officer (PRO) Lungile Dube paid a courtesy call to the Honourable Minister on behalf of the club.

The two officials provided the Minister with a report on last week’s funeral proceedings and further extended their gratitude to the Ministry for support received during the entire repatriation process.

“We have come here Honourable Minister to thank you and your office for assisting us throughout the process especially when we urgently needed a passport. We appreciate the manner with which you dealt with our situation and the fact that you were always calling us to find out how things were going. We are also happy to share that everything went well in Burundi. The family and the Football Association welcomed us with warm hands,” Rodrigues said.

Making his own remarks, the Honourable Minister thanked Malanti for handling the tragic situation well.

“Firstly, I will once again pass on my condolences to you as a club on what befell you. We understand that it will take a lot of time for you to recover from this. I also want to thank you for handling this very difficult situation so well. You did well not just for yourselves as a club but for the country as well,” Bulunga said.

Also present during the meeting was the Under Secretary in the Ministry Nhlanhla Motsa.