In 1994, Mulamba was honoured at the 1994 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia.[3] On returning to Zaire, he was shot in the leg by robbers who mistakenly assumed a former sports star would be a wealthy target.[9][2][3][7] He was sheltered by Emmanuel Paye-Paye for eight months' recuperation.[3] During the First Congo War, Mulamba's eldest son was killed and in 1996 he fled to South Africa as a refugee, alone and destitute.[2] He went to Johannesburg and then Cape Town, where he was taken in by a family in a township.[2] In 1998, a minute's silence was held at the African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso after an erroneous report that Mulamba had died in a diamond mining accident in Angola.[3] By then Mulamba was unemployed and drinking heavily.[3]
By 2010 Mulamba was working as a coach of local amateur teams and had married a local woman.[2]Forgotten Gold, a documentary filmed in 2008–09, follows him in South Africa and on a visit back to Congo.[7][10] He also met with Danny Jordaan, head of the organising committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[7]
Mulamba suffered from heart, kidney and knee problems in later life and was a wheelchair user.[11][12] He lived in poverty and without recognition in the Khayelitsha township of Cape Town.[11] He died in Johannesburg on 26 January 2019.[12][11][13]
