Local football is reeling with shock after the passing of Mme Mabel Khumalo, the mother of Kaizer Chiefs legend Doctor Khumalo.
On Wednesday the PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza and Chiefs led the tributes to the old lady who came to prominence as the wife of the late Chiefs stalwart and founding member, Eliakim “Pro” Khumalo.
“One of South Africa’s football families have lost their matriarch,” said Khoza in a special tribute to Mme Khumalo.
“We received the sad news of the passing of your dear mother Mme Mable Khumalo at this difficult time when our nation and the world are in lockdown.
We are grateful to Ausi Mable for her role besides the legendary late Eliakim ‘Pro’ Khumalo for nurturing an era defining talent, Doctor Khumalo.
May her soul repose peacefully.”
Chiefs said in a statement that “words cannot describe our sympathy as Amakhosi to Doctor Khumalo and the entire bereaved family during this difficult time.”
Amakhosi supremo Kaizer Motaung also paid to tribute to the family he knows first hand through the Khumalos’ long association with the 50-year-old Soweto club.
“She was a wonderful person who played her supportive role in the background. I knew her in the late ‘60s when ‘Pro’ was playing for Moroka Swallows before joining us to form Kaizer Chiefs in 1970,” recalled Motaung.
“And, it is known that her son Doctor Khumalo grew up at Kaizer Chiefs and developed to be a household name in international football. We can only be grateful for the contribution that Mme Mabel made to Kaizer Chiefs and football in general.”
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