By Kopano Dibakwane
Marumo Gallants officials, Rufus Matsena and Tebogo Dhlomo, returned home safely on Monday morning after they were reportedly detained in Libya for over two weeks. The duo were part of the technical team which accompanied Gallants players to a CAF match against Al-Akhdar, played in Benghazi on 19 March.
Matsena and Dhlomo were reportedly unable to travel back to South Africa with the team after their passports were withheld by hotel owner (Ali Elzaghar) following a payment dispute of US$37 000(R675 000).
Minister of sports, arts & culture, Zizi Kodwa, said during a press conference organised by Gallants today in Sandton-Gauteng, that the traumatic experience suffered by Matsena and Dhlomo was not due to a diplomatic fallout between South Africa and Libya, but it must however serve as a lesson.
” We met with DIRCO(department of international relations and cooperation) to make sure that this issue comes to an end. The embassies have a role to play with the issue of language when we go to some of these African countries.
“We don’t wish (for) a repeat of this, as bad as it is, it’s a lesson to be learned so that we do certain things correctly. These are the experiences we have with countries and clubs that want to win at all cost. There must be better coordination between the federation, government, SAFA(south african football association)and the embassies,” said Kodwa.
Gallants chairman, Abram Sello, said that the team reached out to (Ali) Elzaghar to assist with flights as a last resort after failing to get help from travel agencies handling flights to that region. He however confirmed that the payment dispute was finally settled between the team and Elzaghar.
” We booked accommodation in his hotel at an arranged rate. The hotel bill was settled upon the team’s check out. The only amount due was for flight tickets and a kit bought in Benghazi.
” We tried making payments at the bank but we faced difficulties with their banking system.The hotel owner demanded an additional amount but would not give a breakdown of the costs,” he said.
Sello added that despite this incident, Gallants is focused on a battle against relegation from the DStv premiership league and hopes to make South Africa proud as the team goes into the forthcoming CAF quarter finals.
The press conference was also attended by SAFA president Danny Jordaan.
