Laughter the soundtrack of Figo’s life
Mazibuko brought colour to world of football writing
Former colleagues and journalists‚ many of whom Louis Mazibuko was a father figure to‚ have paid tribute to the colourful character and oldschool football writer who died aged 69 on Wednesday.
“Figo” to his friends and colleagues‚ Mazibuko was known for his colourful intros that would have newsrooms in stitches‚ his lyrical‚ old school writing style‚ his penchant for socialising with the leading names of football and boxing‚ and the excellent breaking stories that would get him.
Mazibuko‚ who worked as a sports reporter from the 1970s for newspapers including Rand Daily Mail‚ Sowetan‚ Sunday Times and Sunday World‚ played a paternal role to a number of young journalists who now count themselves as among the seniors of the trade.
“Who starts a match report with the paragraph‚ ‘The match took off like a screeching stolen car speeding away from the police?’ Louis Mazibuko, that’s who. And there were many more intros where that came from‚” Sunday Times sports editor BarengBatho Kortjaas‚ who worked with Mazibuko at his current newspaper and Sunday World‚ said.
“A one-man full house. That was Louis Mazibuko. With him around‚ there was never a dull moment. With him around‚ laughter was always the soundtrack of life.”
Friend and former Sunday Times colleague Thomas Kwenaite said: “Louis was a kind-hearted person and he was one of the best writers of his generation. He never wanted to upset anybody and he was friends with everybody.
“He loved his drink and he used to sneak out of the office and at the weekend. He always wanted to attend matches in Orlando or around Johannesburg because he wanted to go and join the boys after the match.”
Sowetan sports editor and football writer Nkareng Matshe said: “I will remember Louis Mazibuko as a jolly old timer. He was always cracking jokes from the first time we interacted in the early 2000s.
“I never saw him angry or irritated. He had time for everyone‚ and was one of the more welcoming seniors when some of us joined sports journalism. He was an affable character who easily befriended anyone. He will be sorely missed.”
Prominent rugby writer Simnikiwe Xabanisa was Mazibuko’s sports editor when Arena Holdings‚ the owners of Sunday Times and then called Times Media‚ established a group sports hub to service its various titles.
“I know Figo from December 1997 when I came into the Sunday Times internship programme‚” Xabanisa said. “I was a still student and you would come up here for two months and then go back to wherever you were studying.
“Figo was one of the soccer writers at the Sunday Times and I remember the nearest thing to a big story I got was Doctor Khumalo being sued for child maintenance‚ or whatever it was. I went to Naturena but they couldn’t let me in because they did not know me.
“When Doctor was leaving they told him that I wanted to speak to him and he said he ‘doesn’t speak to the media’ and drove off.
“I went back to the office and wrote a little story about that maintenance thing‚ which came out on Sunday and one of the first people that Doctor called was Figo to say‚ ‘What’s going on?’
“Figo had that kind of influence amongst people in football.”