Former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker will have a provincial funeral service on Thursday, said Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa.
Barker, who led Bafana to the AFCON title in 1996, passed away on Saturday after a brave battle with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD).
Minister Kodwa visited Barker’s family in Glenwood in Durban on Monday alongside South African Football Association president Dr Danny Jordaan and Neil Tovey, who was Bafana skipper in the 1996 title triumph.
“It will be a provincial funeral,” Kodwa replied to iDiski Times.
“[But] there are processes that must be followed in terms of the law and policies and rules. Of course we must have the acceptance of the family first. Now that we have that, we are working with the province so that it reaches the desk of the president Cyril Ramaphosa.
“I think by the end of today it should be declared.
“He [Barker] is one person that must be celebrated because at the dawn of our democracy, the hopes of our people were lifted high, in 1996, by the team led by none other than Neil Tovey and many others.
“These are giants. Remember that time, football was the only hope that united our people and others followed by rugby in 1995 and so on.
“We think such a giant, galaxy of stars, is good in celebrating and those galaxies of stars – Neil Tovey and others, because they really displayed good football and they were disciplined.
“I hope as we continue to celebrate these stars, we will learn a thing or two from these teams of 1996 so that we can improve the quality and the standard of our football as we celebrate the life of this giant.
“We will make sure that on Thursday, South Africa comes in numbers and we give him a dignified burial because he fought against racism and used to play for Durban City, protecting the vulnerable and black or African players then.”
Meanwhile, SAFA president Jordaan announced there will be a coaching program named after the Mzansi icon, whose success has never been matched by any coach in South Africa after he led the country to its sole AFCON title and also the first ever FIFA World Cup qualification.
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“Clive Barker won the Cup of Nations and the intentions of the certification, when they [next coaches] receive that Clive Barker certificate, it must inspire them to change their performance,” said Jordaan.
