The South African Football Association (Safa) have confirmed that one of their appointed officials was murdered in Kwazulu-Natal this week.
Jabulani Nxumalo who was President of Safa’s Umkhanyakude Region in KwaZulu-Natal was killed on 17 September in what has been reported as an execution-style slaying.
Safa official murdered
Safa have condemned the murder as ‘cold-blooded and barbaric’ and sent their condolences to Nxumalo’s family.
“The South African Football Association has learnt with shock and horror of the assassination of Umkhanyakude Region President, Jabulani Nxumalo on Thursday evening, 17 September 2020,” Safa confirmed in a statement on their official website.
According to Kwazulu-Natal Safa Provincial Chairman, Kwenzakwakhe Ngwenya, two assailants arrived at Nxumalo’s homestead and after exchanging a few words, shot Nxumalo several times before disappearing into the nearby bush on foot.
Ngwenya said: “From what I have gathered so far, this cold-blooded assassination looked like it was a well-planned hit. This is unacceptable and barbaric behaviour. Shedding innocent blood like this is the last thing society must tolerate. People must value human life and personally, I am gutted and shocked. Nxumalo didn’t deserve to die like this. Nxumalo was a loyal servant of the game and was an ardent supporter of the current leadership. Let me make it clear that these killers and their sponsors will not cow us into submission.”
Threats and violence must stop
The killing comes as Safa has noted a sudden spate of threats against football officials across South Africa.
Safa president Danny Jordaan, said Nxumalo’s murder and threats against the Safa leadership will be on the agenda during a Safa NEC meeting this Saturday 19 September at Safa House.
“A lot of our members have been receiving all sorts of threats and we are going to report this to the police commissioner to look into these incidents,” Jordaan said this week.
Jordaan has suggested that the killing and some of the threats levelled at Safa officials are the work of disgruntled individuals who have an axe to grind with the football oversight body.
“Nxumalo’s killing and the various threats on our members are not isolated incidents but well-orchestrated and this must stop. These latest threats started to grow in March and some disgruntled individuals even solicited the support of one political party to push a hate agenda against the elected leadership. The Safa NEC will come up with a united position after Saturday’s meeting on this disturbing trend.”
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