Sanlam Features Gift 'Mpho' Leremi

Soccer Laduma and Sanlam Sky pay homage to South Africa's great players and coaches who were taken before their time. While they may be gone, their exploits on the field of play will never be forgotten!    This week we celebrate the life and career of the late great Gift Leremi...    Learn from the death of Gift, PSL stars!    He'd just signed for Mamelodi Sundowns in a deal said to have been worth close to R800 000, a fortune in those days. The best football minds in Mzansi viewed him as the future – a goalscoring attacking midfielder to elevate Bafana Bafana's play at the upcoming 2010 World Cup. He was 22 and his whole life and career was ahead of him. Gift Leremi had the world at his talented feet and the possibilities were endless. A product of the Orlando Pirates Youth Academy under Augusto Palacios, 'Vum Vum' listed Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol and the player he most wanted to emulate. On Monday 3 September 2007, Leremi touched down as a member of the Sundowns squad that had been on duty in Africa in the CAF Confederations Cup. He was a bundle of excitement and energy – the kid from Soweto couldn't wait to take on Pirates in the upcoming SAA Supa 8 final later that month.    Leremi had endured his fair share of troubles off the pitch, yet he had seemingly mended his ways after making Chloorkop his new home. However it would be a matter of hours before another top talent of the South African game would be claimed by a tragic road accident. Why so many tragedies befall SA soccer stars is, quite frankly, beyond belief in so many ways. Surely the players of today should learn from these tragedies and drive more carefully. It is the best way to honour the memory of Leremi, and the many others who perished before and since!    The horror of his end is the greatest lesson    It is a sad roll of honour... Richard Henyekane, Lesley Manyathela, Conrad Hendricks and Clifford Moleko are just a few of the many local footballers to have died on SA's roads. Whether it was questionable driving habits, cruel fate or lifestyle choices that lead to impaired judgement while at the wheel, Leremi became just another statistic when in '07 his dark-blue BMW 3-series swerved off the road near the R556 close to Lenasia. There have been many other close calls as well. Doctor Khumalo slammed his BMW into a taxi in 2008. Bryce Moon was charged, but later acquitted, of driving negligently in an accident which resulted in the death of domestic worker Mavis Ncube in 2009. Jabu Mahlangu had two drunk driving accidents while at SV Mattersburg in Austria in 2005 as well. It seems hard lessons are just not being learnt about why driving with caution and diligence is so important. Perhaps it takes the pure horror of what happens when you meet your end due to reckless driving for these lessons to really sink home.    In Leremi's case it appears he lost control of his car and braked hard. The vehicle swerved and, with increasing momentum, slammed over a shallow drainage ditch. The BMW climbed the nearly two metre high embankment and threw Leremi from the front seat. The car rolled several times before coming to rest 36 metres from the 22-year-old's lifeless body. His left leg and arm were crushed after having borne the brunt of the impact. Such were the midfielder's horrific injuries that he was only identifiable by his tattoos. While incredibly tragic, his end is the greatest lesson of all – drive alive and give yourself every chance of achieving whatever it is you want in life! Sohlala Sinikhumbula, Gift.