Orlando Pirates charged their star player Thembinkosi Lorch on Thursday after the Randburg Magistrate Court found him guilty of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The case related to a complaint laid with the Midrand police by Lorch’s girlfriend Fundiswa Nokuphiwa Mathithibala in September 2020.
“Orlando Pirates Football Club notes the decision handed down by the Randburg Magistrate Court regarding Mr Thembinkosi Lorch on Tuesday. As a Club we reiterate our stance against violence perpetrated against women and children and as a result when this matter came to light in 2020, the club carried out its own investigation,” a Pirates statement said on Wednesday.
“Following our internal investigations, the club charged Mr Lorch with serious misconduct. He pleaded guilty to the charge and the club imposed a sanction of a monetary fine and ordered him to undergo anger management therapy. Mr Lorch also informed the club that he had instructed attorneys to assist him with the criminal charges against him and they intended to approach the Director of Public Prosecutions (“DPP”) to make representations regarding the charges against him so that he could go through a diversion programme.
“He further advised that he was attending therapy with Dr. Nomsa Nkuna-Boikanyo as part of his rehabilitation. The club approved that he completes therapy with Dr Nkuna-Boikanyo instead of running a parallel process organised by the club. Mr Lorch informed us that he attended the anger management therapy and completed the prescribed number of sessions. Since then, Mr Lorch has not been involved any similar incident or an incident involving violence. We are confident that the anger management therapy were an appropriate corrective measure.”
The Buccaneers’ statement added: “Mr Lorch’s representations to the DPP were not successful and the criminal proceedings continued. Yesterday, 6 June 2023, Mr Lorch was found guilty of assault (gender-based violence) and will be sentenced in due course. We currently do not have the full details of the conviction and the sentencing date and have requested Mr Lorch to provide these details. Orlando Pirates Football club will not make any further comment until this process is complete.”
