Tiyani Mabunda, a former footballer for Mamelodi Sundowns, continues to balance his duties as a club ambassador and executive assistant with his spiritual mission after videos surfaced of him preaching in Pretoria.
Mabunda, who retired from professional football in August 2021 at the age of 33, transitioned into an ambassadorial role at Chloorkop following a successful career that included numerous domestic titles and the 2016 CAF Champions League trophy.
Even while concluding his playing career, Mabunda openly spoke about his Christian faith, naming Shepherd Bushiri as his spiritual mentor and self-proclaimed prophet. He noted that it was thanks to Bushiri's guidance that he came to understand God, and that his teachings, sermons, and good wishes helped him reach his current level in life.
After Bushiri and his wife Mary left South Africa and moved to Malawi at the end of 2020 amid ongoing legal disputes, Mabunda's main public focus shifted to growing corporate responsibility at Sundowns. He was entrusted with the role of right-hand man to Sundowns chairman Tlhophi Motsepe, who took over leadership after his father, Patrice Motsepe, assumed the presidency of CAF.
In addition to administrative work alongside Motsepe, Mabunda regularly appears on the club's media channels as an analyst for the official Pitchside Podcast. Nevertheless, recent video footage demonstrates that the spiritual pursuits of the former midfielder remain central to his life; Mabunda was filmed during a sermon at ECG Pretoria TJNC, a branch of the mission associated with the Bushiri network.