WANDERERS CEO PAT MAHLALELA IS LATE

MBABANE – A humble and renowned football administrator for elite giants Manzini Wanderers, Pat Mahlalela, is no more.

Mahlalela met his death while serving as Wanderers’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This is another big blow for the local football fraternity, just over a fortnight after the passing of Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati - the country’s most successful coach domestically and internationally at club level. 

The coach passed on due to a COVID-19 related illness while undergoing treatment at the Lubombo Referral Hospital in Siteki.

News of Mahlalela’s demise was already circulating around 7am yesterday.  It was established that he succumbed to death while in South Africa where he was undergoing treatment. This is only three months since the passing of his father, Khisimusi Clement Mahlalela, while his mother passed on a while ago. The ardent Wanderers man was a sociable figure, who also had the ability to bring hope to the Wanderers players during dark times like the ones currently being experienced by the hub side.

Wanderers CEO Pat Mahlalela is late 

Taking the life of the soft-spoken and informed Mahlalela, a former Hellenic FC manager as well, was an undisclosed illness he had battled with for some time now. A family member said he died while undergoing treatment in a South African hospital.

Wanderers PRO Sandile ‘Ntofo’ Dlamini when reached for comment said: “At the moment it’s an issue that as a team, we’ve resolved to let it be handled by the family as it happened this morning, so they’re still informing family members about it,” he responded and referred further questions to the deceased’s family.

reached

A family member who was reached asked not to say anything at the moment.

“This just happened and with all due respect, I’m not ready to say anything to the media,” she politely responded while confirming Mahlalela passed on yesterday morning.

Condolences were already coming in abundance on social media, particularly Facebook where the most recent and shocking passing of coach Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati was still being mourned. Advocate and former Wanderers and Hellenic director, Mduduzi ‘Tsotsi’ Mabila, who worked with Mahlalela in both clubs’ management, asked to comment later when reached.

gathered

Meanwhile, it was gathered from a close source to the late Mahlalela that he got sick on the day his father was buried and never made it to his house but a hospital bed.

“Since then, about three months now, he had been in and out of hospital and the last we spoke with him was two weeks ago until he stopped responding to my texts and WhatsApp calls. I knew it meant the situation worsened,” said one of his close friends. The family is expected to address the media upon return from South Africa.

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