Madisha could have been Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns captain – Shakes Mashaba

Former South Africa head coach Shakes Mashaba says Motjeka Madisha was destined to captain Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns in the future. 

The South African football fraternity is mourning the untimely passing of Madisha, who died in a car crash in Kempton Park, Johannesburg on Sunday morning.

Mashaba worked with Madisha during his time as South Africa under-20 coach and the team qualified for the 2015 Caf Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations finals. 

“He was a quiet youngster and he had the potential to become the captain of both Bafana Bafana and Sundowns. When water is spilt you cannot put it back into the cup, what else can we say… we are shattered,” Mashaba told The Citizen. 

Madisha also captained the South Africa under-20 side which won the 2015 Commonwealth Cup which took place in the Russian city of St Petersburg.

The no-nonsense defender was then promoted to the Sundowns first team from the club's academy and he went on to become one of the top centre backs in the PSL. 

His death comes barely a week since the burial of Sundowns right-back Anele Ngcongca, who also passed away in a car accident, and Mashaba feels that there is nothing much that PSL clubs can do to prevent such incidents from happening.

“It is becoming a problem because we always cry about these players; Richard Henyekane, Lesley Manyathela, Gift Leremi and others. Last month it was Anele who died in a car crash," he said. 

"I know when things are like this people will say players must be taught, but there is no way players will be taught things like these. They are not staying at clubhouses like a boarding school.

“It is really sad because they have not finished wiping tears because they just buried Anele, but we are saying Sundowns must be comforted at this point in time, they can’t be sitting and hanging themselves and say if Madisha was here and so forth."

Madisha, 25, had a successful 2019/20 season in which the Bafana international was a key defender for Sundowns as they clinched a domestic treble and he was nominated for the PSL Defender of the Season award

"He is not here anymore, sad and tragic as it is, it is reality. We have got to work hard to accept that he is no more and there is nothing that can happen now," Mashaba continued.

“Sundowns are really going to miss him at the back because of the responsibility that they gave him. He was playing more like a sweeper which is a very demanding position and he has been doing that very well and there was no one who doubted his abilities.”