Lioli public Relation Officer, Moeketsi Pitso
Mikia Kalati
The football family is mourning the untimely death of former Premier League Management Committee and Lioli public relations officer (PRO), Moeketsi Pitso, last Saturday after a long illness.
Ntate Pitso, who was born on 21 September 1968, had become synonymous with Lesotho football hence his death was such a body blow to a game that was desperately still in need of his undoubted administrative talent.
After leaving his premier league position during the 2009/10 season where he was working under the leadership of Tlholo Letete, Ntate Pitso dedicated his time to Lioli—a club he loved with such admirable passion.
Lioli president Lebohang Thotanyana has described Ntate Pitso’s death as “a big loss” to Lesotho football.
“The passing away of Ntate Pitso is a big loss to our club Lioli, and the football fraternity as a whole,” Thotanyana said.
“His passing away is also a big loss to me personally as he was a friend, a colleague, a brother and we shared a lot working together.”
The Lioli president, who is also the minister of mining, further told the Lesotho Times that Ntate Pitso leaves “a big gap” after working as the club’s PRO for over 10 years.
“He was the longest-serving member of our committee and worked with previous other presidents that came before me; he took over from Lebohang Maketa, who is now the PRO of Free State Stars in South Africa,” said Thotanyana.
“He helped build a brand that we have in Lioli today and the club will forever miss his passion and hard work.”
His close friend and Sundawana public relations officer, Bokang Phusumane, said the death of Ntate Pitso had hit him hard because the Lioli legend was a mentor to him.
“I developed and started working as a public relations officer under him when I was the PRO for Lioli supporters based in Maseru,” Phusumane said.
“This experience laid a good foundation for me because soon afterwards, I became Likhopo’s PRO and he was still by my side, lending me a helping hand each time I needed advise.
“The same support continued even when I left Likhopo for Bantu before I joined Sundawana about a month ago.”
Phasumane said the one thing he would remember Ntate Pitso for was his passion for football and promoting the Lioli brand.
“He was very friendly, loving and helpful to all those around him and we are all very sad that he is gone so soon,” said Phasumane.
On his part, Lesotho Football Association public relations officer, Thabo Maretlane, also had nothing but praise for Ntate Pitso.
“The football fraternity has lost one of its favourite sons and the loss is so painful,” Maretlane said.
“What I remember about Ntate Pitso is he loved football and its growth. He worked so hard to improve the standard of the game and also unite those who loved the beautiful game.
“I knew he had been sick for some time, but we all thought that he would recover. All we can do now is support his family and help them come to terms with the loss of a loved one.”
Lioli attacking midfielder Montoeli Sonopo said the team was struggling to come to terms with the passing away of Ntate Pitso.
“It’s a sad situation because we all found him here at the club and took him as our father,” Sonopo said.
“We are counselling each other as we struggle to accept that he is gone. However, we will always remember him for the hard work he put in to promote this team.”
