Johannesburg - Assistant Bafana Bafana coach Thomas Madigage has been killed in an accident near Burgersfort, Limpopo police confirmed on Friday morning.
"We can confirm that he passed away last night between 10pm and midnight," said Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.
Madigage, 41, was alone in his car on the R37 between Polokwane and Burgersfort when a donkey crossed the road.
"There was one car towing a caravan in front of him. That car managed to swerve and avoid the donkey but he could not. His car hit it."
Mulaudzi sent his condolences to the Madigage family and the soccer fraternity in South Africa.
Madigage, a long-serving assistant coach at Premiership club SuperSport United, was appointed assistant to new Bafana Bafana
mentor Gordon Igesund in July.
Having joined the United coaching staff in 2002, Madigage helped the top-flight club win six titles, including three successive league crowns between 2008 and 2010.
The SA Football Association (Safa) was saddened by the news.
"We are shocked and at a loss for words...we are on our way to meet the family and find out what actually happened," Safa president Kirsten Nematandani said in a statement.
"We would like to pass our sincere condolences to the family, friends and the entire nation on this shocking development."