LUCKY Maselesele, former Kaizer Chiefs star, who lost his football ground while at Maritzburg United, is dead.
At 41, Maselesele was allegedly murdered in Alexandra on Wednesday by two men who were arrested.
Information reaching SunSport is that Maselesele was deep into drugs and was at the stage of addiction.
Our sources closer to the player said he was severely beaten by community members and thrown onto the streets and left for the dead.
"My understanding is that he was caught stealing electrical cables and beaten badly. Look, it's unfortunate that he had to die in this way and sent to a government mortuary. He didn't deserve all these. Everyone in Alex tried to help him quit drugs but failed. We occassionally used to play Sunday league games with him and we would talk with him and he'd tell us that he's out of drugs. But it doesn't look like he was out of drugs. He used to steal things to feed his cravings," revealed the source.
"On Wednesday at approximately 11.50pm, police received a complaint that there were community members who were assaulting an unknown male, when the police approached, the group ran away and the police managed to apprehend two suspects," Mavela Masondo, police spokesperson, explained in a statement.
"It is alleged that the deceased was accused by the community for stealing electrical cables in the area. "He was certified dead on the scene by the paramedics."
Masondo added: "Two suspects were arrested on the scene. Both suspects were charged with murder and one suspect appeared in Wynberg court on Friday," Masondo explained.
"The case was postponed for bail application. Police are still continuing with the investigation. Maselesele's friend, Issac Mabotja, another football legend, declined to talk about reasons behind his death and promised to come back to us after meeting with his family.
Another close friend of the player said: "He was beaten to death by umphakathi (community). And if he was beaten by umphakathi it means he must have been caught stealing something."
Efforts by SunSport to get comment from Maselesele's family proved fruitless.
