Central SA
FS Department sends condolences after passing of Rufus Botha─── 12:16 Fri, 10 Jan 2020
The Free State Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation MEC, Limakatso Mahasa, sent her condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Rufus Botha.
Botha was a well-known athletics coach, writer, and announcer, respected by many in the province for his passion for athletics and other sporting codes. Botha passed on earlier this week due to a heart attack.
He will be laid to rest at 10:00 on Saturday 11 January 2020 at the St Michaels School Chapel in Bloemfontein, in the Free State.
Tankiso Zola, the spokesperson of the department, says he will be remembered for his contributions to sports in the province.
In 2016, OFM News reported on Botha’s hospitalisation following a heart attack.
Botha was honoured at the Free State Sports Awards in 2019 as the Coach of the Year. He was also nominated twice for the same category in 2017 and 2018.
Messages were streaming in on social media after his death was announced. One of the top-performing athletes who was trained by Botha, Louzanne Coetzee, also expressed her heartfelt condolences saying “oom Botha was truly a mentor to her and that she will continue paying tribute to him by running”.
MEC Mahasa said may Botha’s soul rest in peace.
OFM News/Marvin Ntsane
