At first media reports about the player who had passed away were sketchy and it later emerged that the player who had lost control of his car in the Brackendowns area of Alberton at about 9:15 pm was a Mamelodi Sundowns player.

It came to light at about 09:00 am on Tuesday morning that the said player was the former Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana midfielder Gift Leremi who joined Mamelodi Sundowns in July.

Leremi was born in Soweto in October 1984 and his passing away just a few months before his 23rd birthday, will be a great loss not just for his club Mamelodi Sundowns but also for South African football in general.

Leremi made his PSL debut during the 2002-03 season and was part of the Pirates team that won the championship that very season; he spent a further six seasons with the Buccaneers before transferring at the end of last season to Sundowns from Pirates.

The tough-tackling Leremi made four appearances for Bafana Bafana and he spear-headed South Africa’s 2-1 victory over Nigeria in 2005 in his debut match which also happened to be the first time that any South African National football team had defeated a Nigerian team in an international match.

Tinashe admiration for Leremi

While they always faced each other as opponents and every time they met it was before a packed stadium with highly charged emotions, Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Tinashe Nengomasha was taken aback when he received the news on Tuesday morning informing him of Gift Leremi’s passing away.

As a player who came face to face with Leremi whenever Chiefs and Pirates clashed, Nengomasha learnt first hand of the immense talents of Leremi. He paid special tribute to the Sundowns player on Tuesday saying, “even though Gift and I were never friends or teammates, I always had the utmost respect for him and I admired his fighting spirit on the field and I felt he was one of the most gifted players in the PSL.

"When he joined Sundowns a few months ago I was really happy for him because I felt that him playing alongside players such as Godfrey Sapula and Surprise Moriri he would be playing to his true potential. He will be missed by all of his teammates, colleagues and fans”.

Fabian tribute to Leremi

“Gift was an immensely popular player not just with his own team mates but with players from other clubs within the league as well. He was a fighter on the field and never relented in the pursuit of ensuring his teams success” said Chiefs defender Fabian McCarthy.

“The condolences of the entire Kaizer Chiefs team go out to Gift and his family at this time and our thoughts and prayers are with them” concluded McCarthy.