The family of the slain Eastern Cape boxer Zolani ‘The Untouchable’ Marali is still reeling in shock following his untimely death. The 44-year-old former world champion was shot at his Johannesburg apartment on Friday night.
Marali won Bronze at the 1999 All-Africa Games and also held the IBO Junior Lightweight, WBF Junior Featherweight and WBF Junior Welterweight titles during his boxing career. The Untouchable hung up his gloves in October 2015 with a record 24 wins in 30 fights.
Marali’s death also came as a shock to the boxing fraternity.
His family wants those responsible for his murder to face the full might of the law. They have described him as a kindhearted person who was a pillar of strength.
“I was very shocked because it was not expected to me that Zolani can pass away very soon, because Zolani was here in December 2021, we were together. When he arrived from Johannesburg, he would always come to my house and we would be having chats together. Zolani was a very good person, communicating very well with his family, he was a good man,” says Sidwell Marali, the boxer’s father.
The sports fraternity in the province has hailed Marali as an outstanding boxer.
Provincial Manager of Boxing South Africa, Pakamile Jacobs says, “We will remember him that he was a very humble soft-spoken person young man. We will also remember him as a person who was passionate. We have got young people like Azinga Fuzile, Zolani Tete and many more that we think they will follow suite to what Zolani has been doing for boxing. I am pretty sure that some of them have learned from what Zolani has done for boxing,” says Pakamile Jacobs.
The Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Arts and Culture says Marali’s passing is a huge setback for sports development in the province.
Spokesperson Busisiwe Jemsana Mantashe, says, “This is a huge blow to the department as it would seem like legends are leaving us at a time when we need them the most; at a time where we are trying to find ways of making sure that the sector lives through COVID-19. The legacy and contribution that Waimunamuna, The Untouchable is leaving behind will never be forgotten, especially making sure that the Eastern Cape is known as the mecca of boxing.”
Marali will be laid to rest next week Saturday in Middledrift.
