Kaizer Chiefs legend Zebulon "Sputla" Nhlapo has confirmed the passing of former Golden Arrows and Bafana Bafana defender Siphiwe Mkhonza.
Mkhonza who worked as a football analyst at SABC Sport passed away on Tuesday morning following a long battle with undisclosed sickness.
Nhlapo who is a close family friend says the 44-year-old will always be remembered for his streetwise style of analysing football matches.
"I grew up with Siphiwe's father Joseph 'Skheshekheshe' Mkhonza, he is the one who took me to Kaizer Chiefs, and he also coached me," Nhlapo tells KickOff.
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"I received a call earlier today around 8 a.m. from Siphiwe's father informing me about his passing. But all along I knew he was sick.
"He passed away early this morning around 2 a.m. Looking at him you could see he was sick. He's been sick for a long time.
"This boy grew up in front of me, he played for Springs Home Sweepers, the very same team I played for.
"When I was at Chiefs, Siphiwe used to come to the gym to watch his father who was my teammate train. The Mkhonzas are a football family. They are from KwaThema in Springs.
"I will remember Siphiwe for his respect, he was always cool and never allowed being a Chiefs player to go to his head. You could tell he was from a good family.
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"I will miss the way he used to analyze the sport, he always had facts and he was streetwise. He knew all the terms of the football lingo."
Bloemfontein Celtic was the first team Mkhonza played for in the Premier Soccer League in 1999, he then moved to the likes of Ria Stars, and Lamontville Golden Arrows.
In 2004 he followed in his father's footsteps and donned the historic gold and black colours of Amakhosi.
Other clubs he turned out for include SuperSport United, Maritzburg United, AmaZulu FC, and Black Leopards FC. He retired in 2012.
