There was a man who, on the pitch, played football like an angel and, off it, lived like one.
FARPost’s Hosea Ramphekwa remembers Thomas Madigage, one of heaven’s finest gifts to South African football.
A decade ago, on this day, South African football shed some weight as it lost one of its important personalities.
Madigage, then Bafana Bafana’s assistant coach, bowed out of the game of life following a fatal car accident. Chincha, or Tommy, as he was fondly known, was en route to his home in Burgersfort, Limpopo, when he met his untimely death. According to many in the football fraternity, his departure left a huge gap in the country’s football. Those who saw Madigage dazzle on the pitch raved about his unparalleled talent.
HE HAD EVERYTHING
“Thomas could have easily walked into a Barcelona starting line-up,” former broadcaster Walter Mokwena once remarked. “I mean, the guy had almost everything – speed, skill, and he could easily change direction at any given time.” One of Jomo Sono’s finest finds, Madigage was just a teenager when he burst onto the scene as a wing king for Jomo Cosmos in the late 80s.
“You know it’s difficult to describe a special player. He was special. I am not talking only about a footballer. A person who respects elderly people and always has time to stand and greet people. That’s being special. You find players today they don’t greet people because he is earning R20 000, he thinks he has arrived, and so forth. You know,” said Sono during SuperSport TV’s Mzansi Legends broadcast when Madigage got featured.
At some point, Madigage, a former Acadia Shepherds youth player, was on the radar of Manchester United, with the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson hosting him for dinner. Though he boasted talent, he never got to turn out for big teams in Europe.
His former teammate Pitso Mosimane believed Madigage could have made it to big sides such as AC Milan and Juventus. However, he was on the books of Swiss side FC Zurich in the early 90s. Despite being an outstanding talent, the former Bafana Bafana player didn’t make the grade in Europe, where he didn’t stay longer.
He would return to Cosmos before settling at Matsatsantsa a Pitori, where he was one of the key players. Back then, when Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates dominated in terms of popularity, it was unpopular for youngsters to pledge allegiance to clubs like SuperSport.
Former Pirates and Bloemfontein forward Lennox Bacela revealed that he rallied behind SuperSport because of Madigage, who was his favourite player. At SuperSport, as a player and a coach, Madigage was a cult figure. Not only was he respected for his tactical knowledge, but also for his humanity.
BEING A GOOD PERSON
Former SuperSport United and Bafana defender Bongani Khumalo has cited Madigage as inspiration for his charity work.
“Coaches teach you how to score, how to defend and all that. Thomas did that, and he also spoke to you about life away from the game – being a good person. That memory of him and good words still live with me till today and will be with me forever,” said Khumalo.
“When you look at the world now, the young players popping up now, Tommy would have been the right person to be around them and to keep them grounded. He would have been perfect. He was a fantastic player himself, and he spoke with much clarity during his coaching and the time that I worked with him at club and national team level. I enjoyed his thoughts on the game and how he read the game.”
Most of Madigage’s former colleagues have spoken in one voice about his generosity, something he wore religiously as he did his ZCC cap.
“The most memorable thing about Thomas would be his kindness towards people. He had this thing of helping people. He was never selfish. He put others before himself. Also his leadership, he was one strong character that would fight for and believe in people. He was a principled person. Wrong is wrong; right is right. He would fight for people to be better while forgetting about himself. He would help people at any cost,” said Coltrane Munyai, who worked with Madigage for decades.
One of the beneficiaries of Madigage’s kindness is South Africa’s top coach Pitso Mosimane, who has on countless occasions referred to Madigage as the person who ‘launched me’. Mosimane had been working in Soweto coaching youngsters when Madigage went to fetch him. Madigage recruited Mosimane to SuperSport, where he started as a scout. When the coaching position became vacant, Madigage campaigned for Mosimane to assume the role.
“If you really see the likes of Pitso flourishing, Tommy’s name is there. He will never forget. When you see where we are today, it’s because of Tommy. He has an eye in terms of recruiting the right people and supporting them at the same time,” said Munyai.
At SuperSport, Mosimane and Madigage formed a potent combination that transformed the club into one of the most fearsome entities in domestic football. Kwanele Kopo used to sit next to Mosimane and Madigage as an assistant coach.
“That combination with Thomas was the best I have seen, and it created something else in the team. Thomas became an extended hand of Pitso, mostly off the field, looking after the players. Thomas would visit foreign players to find out how they were doing and reported back to Pitso. That combination helped Pitso,” said Kopo.
Former SuperSport United captain Kaitano Tembo shared a home with Madigage, and he observed Chincha going about his business from close range.
STRUCK THE BALANCE
“Thomas really cared about individuals. When issues emerged, the first person to know would be him (Thomas), especially if it had to do with the players. But at the same time, Pitso was very strong-minded. He did not mess around. His approach was also vital and struck a balance in that you cannot make the same mistake over and over again, thinking that you gonna get away with it. That would never happen with Pitso,” said Tembo.
Mosimane andMadigage led SuperSport to six cup finals, of which two were won, during their tenure at the Tshwane-based club. Last year, during an interview with SABC’s Morning Live, Mosimane, then on the books of Al Ahly, acknowledged the role Madigage played in his ascension to the summit of the coaching circuit on the continent.
“He brought me, and he gave me his role. He was the assistant coach. He was the player/coach. He gave it to me and says I will continue playing. I mean, how generous was that guy? You never find people like that. What an amazing guy,” said Mosimane.
In the earlier stages of his career, Mosimane was all about results. He wanted to win at all costs, and Madigage’s presence is said to have influenced his perspective on the game and life as it pertains to relations with players.
“In my simple opinion, I think Tommy left Pitso with one of the greatest gifts as a coach – that there’s more to a player than just the person who is running for 90 minutes on the field. There’s a human being who is running for 90 minutes. Over the years, it was interesting for me to see how Pitso was starting to change as a coach, where the wellbeing of players started mattering more as well,” said Lizzy Kilani, founder of a marketing agency Tick-A-Target who worked at SuperSport as a marketing intern.
Mosimane may be the most high-profile person impacted by Madigage, but many unknown and ordinary members of the community benefitted from the generous man’s life. When he breathed his last many dreams were shattered as Madigage had planned to start a football academy in his village in Limpopo.
The extent of his humanity and kindness would perhaps be summed by what Kopo, a close friend of Madigage, once said: “Thomas was such a giver in that he got paid on the 25th , and by the 28th, he was broke. He had shared his money with people who are less fortunate.”
Gone but not forgotten!
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