Cape Town - Hundreds of mourners gathered to pay tribute to the two soccer players whose bodies were retrieved from Lagoon Beach more than a week ago.
Buhle “Gora” Pantshwa and fellow Lokshin Spurs Football Club teammate, Siyamthanda “Zaya” Mqolombeni, were playing a game of beach soccer when tragedy struck on July 21.
The 19-year-olds went into the water to retrieve the soccer ball that had fallen into the surf, but they were swept out by a strong rip current.
The next day, at spring low tide, their lifeless bodies were recovered just after 11am.
Mourners gathered at the Joe Slovo Community Hall on Monday to pay their respects to the two footballers they said had a bright future.
At the memorial service, teammates, family and friends did not only reflect on the teenagers’ lives but what they were destined to achieve in the years to come.
President of the SA Football Association (Safa) Cape Town, Bennett Bailey, led the condolences, calling the players’ passing a true tragedy.
He said the young men who played at centre-back and right-back, respectively, were regulars in their team and will be missed.
“They wanted to secure a match for tomorrow. Like they do during the game, it was not about them, it was about the cause. They were regulars in the Lokshin team and their absence will be felt,” Bailey said.
A resident who was at the memorial service told the Cape Argus that the communities of Phoenix and Joe Slovo were devastated by the deaths.
“Everyone was there, we are taken aback by this incident. We are worried that kids who aren’t doing other things can die like that,” the woman said.
Amos Siwayi, president of the Dunoon Local Football Association, said the incident is also linked to the lack of training facilities within communities.
“If we have proper facilities in a safe environment, then we would not be talking about this.
“Those boys were under 19 and one of them should have gone on to make it professionally,” Siwayi said.
Pantshwa is believed to have been a part of the Dunoon Academy team who played in the 2023 Bayhill Premier Cup.
“It is very bad that we lost such a talent, far away from home on the other side of Joe Slovo,” Siwayi said.
Ward councillor Anthony Benadie said he sympathised with everyone affected and said they were searching for training facilities. It is not final yet, but it is our intention and currently being discussed to establish training fields along Freedom Way in Phoenix where there are open spaces that are unused,” Benadie said.
Cape Argus