Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana superfan Dejan Miladinovic died at the Baragwanath Hospital on Wednesday afternoon after a short illness.
The Serbian-born Buccaneer die-hard supporter had been hospitalised for four weeks, according to his best friend Masilo Machaka.
Miladinovic was a popular figure among Pirates supporters since he arrived in the country from war-torn Serbia in 1992. He attended almost all Pirates matches and was well-liked and admired by the Bucs family. Not only did he support Pirates, he also travelled the length and breadth of the world supporting his beloved Bafana Bafana. He was also part of the supporters’ club for the Springboks, the SA Cricket national teams and other Mzansi’s sporting codes.
Said his friend Machaka, who is ironically Kaizer Chiefs’ number one supporter: “It’s true, I saw him couple of days ago and he was very struggling. He died on Wednesday around 2pm I got a call yesterday. He fought hard and had been in hospital for four weeks and the last match he attended was a cricket game. His breathing had gotten worse. I had taken clothes to him and it was the last time I saw him – I guess I was bidding goodbyes to a good friend,” said Machaka.
“He missed the last Soweto derby because he was already sick and in hospital. What people do not know is that we stayed together for three years in flat in Berea, Johannesburg. It was a big secret because we did not want people to know that Chiefs and Pirates supporters lived in one flat. He arrived in SA around 1992 and we clicked immediately. We did so many projects together, we travelled together for rugby, cricket and other sports. We are still not sure if they will bury him in Serbia or here in SA. He arrived in SA with his uncle because they were running away from the war in Eastern Europe,” Machaka added.
Two years ago, the Sunday World reported that after losing their jobs, Machaka and Miladinovic had joined a funeral parlour, Amathole Funerals. They were the face and the undertakers in the business. This was during the times of the Covid-19 lockdown regulations.
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