Sombre mood as slain Chiefs defender laid to rest
Kabelo Boranabi | Monday July 11, 2022 16:00
The lanky defender was stabbed to death on the wee hours of Saturday, July 2, 2022 in Otse after a night out with friends. Rapulana was confirmed dead on the morning due to stab wounds at the age of 30.
Speaking at the funeral, the player’s uncle, Frank Rapulana narrated the first hours after his nephew met his untimely death. He said he was awaken from his sleep by one the relatives about the incident and upon arriving at the local clinic he found the lifeless body of his nephew. “I heard a heavy knock on my door step from one of my relatives at around past 1am on Saturday.
She told me that my nephew had been stabbed and his life is under serious danger. From the knock, my body became heavy but I managed to go to the clinic. When we arrived at the clinic, I found out that there was only a nurse on duty while my nephew was in need of a doctor’s attention. I believe that the situation at the clinic could have been much better.
We stayed there for some few minutes. After 30 or so, I was called into a room at the clinic and there I found Donald lying on the bed. What I found there was the body as his soul was already with the marker,” Frank told the gathering.
Recalling their moments with Rapulana, his colleague, Pinkie Molatlhegi from Winchester Group of Companies described the late defender as having a no-nonsense attitude both on and off the field of play.
He said Rapulana was a reliable workaholic who will be missed dearly by his workmates. “We met on August 2015 when he joined the company. We worked very closely and for the bulk of the workload we depended very much on Donald. He was a very reliable person to have around at the workplace since he was the link between the office and our business partners.
He proved to be someone who can be trusted and he handled the company’s large amounts of money. He was a no-nonsense person even at work. When he was not satisfied with something, he would tell you point blank that he was not happy. His sudden death has left the company with a void and it will be hard to replace someone like him.
To the family, we endure the pain you are feeling because we have a lost a hard worker,” said Molatlhegi. “He joined us in 2016 and from the start we could tell that this is a player that does not like to be on the losing side. Every time he went on the pitch he would play his heart out. I remember when we were playing for First Division status, he was the one who scored that winning goal the team needed.
We will miss so much,” one of his colleagues at Red Sparks said. Rapulana was signed by Chiefs in January from Red Sparks and went to play 13 games in the team’s push to elite league promotion. The majority of his playing career was in the lower divisions whilst he did some coaching for a local social football club, Stingy Boys. He is survived by his parents, two siblings and a son.