Football mourns ex-GU great Gaadingwe
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Friday February 5, 2016 14:13
Gaadingwe, whose cause of death was unknown at the time of going to press, will be laid to rest today in Gaborone. He leaves behind a lasting legacy, having played for one of the big guns, Gaborone United (GU), though for a short while in the 1990s.
He burst into the scene at the same time with the likes of Diphetogo Selolwane and Tshepiso Molwantwa, among others. He was part of the national Under 17 team that qualified for the African Championship in 1995. The team included the likes of Seabo Gabanakgosi, Selolwane, Molwantwa and Desmond Hambira.
Born in 1979, Gaadingwe has been described as a humble person who was passionate about sport. Former Zebras great, Phadza Butale, said he met Gaadingwe in the late 1980s at Thornhill Primary School. Butale was at the time three standards above Gaadingwe at primary school. “I was in the A-team at the time and he was in the B-team.
By the time he went to Nanogang Junior School I was at Gaborone Senior School,” he said. Both Gaadingwe and Butale played in the now defunct Chappies Little League. “He played for the Notwane Under 12, then we took him to our team called Arm City which at the time was under the tutelage of Michael ‘Spokes’ Gaborone,” Butale said in an interview yesterday.
From Arm City, Gaborone then took reigns at another team called Nyangabgwe, which was playing in the second Division.
He then promoted Gaadingwe, Butale, Selolwane and Molwantwa to play in the Second Division. “Since then, we have been together and usually shared rooms at the national junior teams. We have been friends since then, even after football. He was my best man at my wedding. So I know him both on the football side and the personal side,” Butale said.
He described Gaadingwe as a very good person. He apparently adopted a nine-year-old child and bought him football gear and trained him everyday. The player turns out for Happy Hearts, where Gaadingwe was a co-owner together with Butale. The player is now 19 years.
“His number one passion was football. He was also a businessman. He used to spend his own money and took Happy Hearts to a weeklong camp in Pretoria at Supersport United. It was his passion,” said Butale.
At the time of his death, Gaadingwe is said to have been a fitness freak and did cycling on his spare time.