Black Leopards' owner, Mr David Thidiela, is still alive and kicking, says the team's chief executive officer (CEO), Mr Moudy Mudzielwana. This assurance follows after rumours emerged on social media over the weekend, claiming that the soccer boss was no more.
The family and community were still mourning the passing of Mr Thidiela's wife, Mphodo Ramunenyiwa-Thidiela, who died on Friday 8 January at the Netcare Pholosa Hospital.
In a statement released on Monday, the club pleaded with those spreading the rumour to refrain from doing so. According to Mudzielwana, the club is very disturbed by the actions of those who are spreading such lies during their time of mourning.
He said that on Saturday they were alerted that messages were circulating on social media platforms that Mr Thidiela was in the ICU in hospital. Mudzielwana confirmed that Thidiela was battling to deal with the tragic news that his wife had passed on, because she was very close to him. "But I don't understand where this thing came from," he said.
"I saw the news on Facebook. So, I don't know what prompted this," he said. Mudzielwana said that believing that someone would just create such news, that someone had passed on, was hard. It became necessary to release a statement giving clarity, because they were getting a lot of calls from people who did not know what to believe.
"The club and the family will not tolerate such careless and irresponsible actions for whatever reasons and would like to urge anyone not to share or spread such rumours," he said.