Luke Fleurs’ former teammates at SuperSport United were shattered when one of them received a phone call while they were en route to a Durban hotel informing them of his death.
The 24-year-old Kaizer Chiefs defender and South African Olympian was killed in a hijacking on Wednesday night at the Shell petrol station in 14th Avenue, Florida, where gunmen forced him out of his VW Golf 8 GTI and shot him before driving off with the vehicle.
Luke was a hard worker, a smart player, and one for the future. He was a jolly, free-spirited boy, always laughing … With everything happening at Chiefs, I believe his chance was about to come
— Thulani Hlatshwayo, former Bafana Bafana captain
The SuperSport United squad was returning from Mpumalanga Stadium in Hammarsdale after their 2-2 DStv Premier Soccer League match against Lamontville Golden Arrows.
“We were inside the bus after the game going back to the hotel. One of the guys received a call telling him about this terrible thing. We were shocked. Everyone in the bus just went dead silent,” said ex-Bafana Bafana captain Thulani Hlatshwayo, who played alongside Fleurs at centre back.
Fleurs was a member of the South African under-23 national team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won the 2021-22 DStv Premier Soccer League Young Player of the Season award. He received two Bafana call-ups, but had not been capped as a full international. Hlatshwayo said Fleurs had plenty to offer.
“I played with him. Luke was a hard worker, a smart player, and one for the future. He was a jolly, free-spirited boy, always laughing. He played at the Olympics. With everything happening at Chiefs, I believe his chance was about to come,” said Hlatshwayo.
At United, Fleurs shared a room with Jesse Donn. “Jesse was very close to him. There are a lot of boys that are feeling it. You can see the guys are shattered. We are devastated. He may have left the club for Chiefs, but he was one of us — he was one for SA football,” said Hlatshwayo.
Godfrey Mosoetsa — who has served SuperSport United as a scout, team manager and assistant coach for more than 20 years — recommended Fleurs to the club after he was impressed by the teenager’s performance during the Bayhill Premier Cup in Cape Town.
Mosoetsa is heartbroken about the death of the player.
“I saw him playing for Fish Hoek as a midfielder. He was about 15 or 16, doing well at under-19. You find most amateur clubs bring [in] guys who are 18 or 19 and make older players the spine of their teams, because they want to win the tournament. But here was this youngster playing defensive midfield and bossing it. You couldn’t miss him. I forwarded a report, and it’s up to the club to make a follow up. The following year, he went to Ubuntu Cape Town from Hout Bay,” said Mosoetsa.
Fleurs’ family met Kaizer Chiefs officials on Friday to discuss funeral details, which are yet to be announced.
Mosoetsa said he felt sorry his mother. “When one goes and finds these boys, their parents just say, ‘Coach, please make sure this child goes to school and is safe’. I met his mother at a tournament. Now his mother has to come to Joburg to fetch a corpse."
In a heartfelt post on Instagram in December, alongside a picture of him and teammate Reeve Frosler at Kaizer Motaung’s induction into the South African Hall of Fame, Luke wrote: "Yeah, momma, I made it out of the streets — I hope you finally proud."
“It is sad, not [just] because it’s Luke ... Whoever did this, did they really have to go to the extent of killing him?” asked Mosoetsa.
“Whether he resisted, or whatever the circumstances were, you don’t know how many mouths the man was feeding. It’s scary. It’s like a movie. It is too late now for Luke. There is nothing we can do — the man is gone.”
Mosoetsa said Fleurs ticked the most important performance boxes.
“He paid his [dues] at SuperSport. When he started playing in the first team, he caused a lot of penalties. Over time, his tackling got better.
“Dying at his age is what makes this more difficult. If someone passes at the age of 24, and you still have players who are playing at 34, imagine how Luke would have been in 10 years.
“It feels [like] South African football has lost two centre backs in one. He could play both left and right centre back with ease. His age is what hits me mostly.”
Fleurs played 70 matches for United, but was not a regular fixture in the first team.
“For whatever reason, he was not getting game time in the first team. I said to coach Kaitano [Tembo], ‘Let me have this boy. He must come have game time in the under-20, so that when you need him he is not rusty.’
“That was the rationale. Luke was the captain of that under-20 squad, and he lifted the Pirates Cup trophy. When you take a player who has played in midfield to centre back, he would not just kick the ball forward, but build from the back — that was his attribute.”
Fleurs had not made his Chiefs debut after joining in October following the termination of his contract by United. “I’m still wondering why Luke had not played and made his debut at Chiefs. There might be reasons known to them,” said Mosoetsa.
Kaizer Chiefs' sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jr on Wednesday told the SABC that Chiefs players were filled with anger and disbelief as they tried to come to terms with the death of their teammate.
“It’s a very sad day, and I’m shocked. It’s sad for the football fraternity at large. We have heard about players losing their lives like this in the past, and it hits us very hard,'' said Motaung.
While training was cancelled at SuperSport, Motaung said Chiefs players “said they wanted to be out on the field in his memory”. Motaung added, “They are the ones who picked themselves up and said they wanted to go to training.”
Chiefs honoured their fixture against Chippa United at Buffalo City municipal stadium yesterday.
“We need to give the family some privacy, but we will do everything we can to help the family,'' he said.
Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said: “Police have opened a case of murder and car hijacking for investigation, and no arrests have been made yet.”
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