It is with great sadness that Soccer-Laduma announces the death of young Wits player, Nkululeko Magudulela.

Magudubela was with Wits' development, having recently been promoted to the club’s U17 team.

Wits general manager, George Mogotsi, confirmed the sad news of the young midfielder’s passing.

He said, “He is my player. But he was selected for another local team in Soweto at the time of his death. He was playing a game yesterday (Tuesday) and just fell on his own and died.

"He played for our U15 team this year. We had our awards ceremony on Monday and he was promoted to the U17s there. He was going to play for the U17s starting from January 2014.

"He comes from Mndeni. His mother Nokuthula Magudubela was crying this morning. As the club we are saddened by the loss of the player. Like I said, the boy had just been promoted to the U17s and we were hoping that he would be one of the team’s top players for the future.

"The other boys called him 'Tjovitjo' and you know that such names in football are given to talented players. As schools close today, he was going to leave knowing that he had passed grade 10 and would be doing grade 11 next year. The family will gather later today to discuss funeral arrangements."

Soccer-Laduma would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Magudubela during this difficult period.