The mention of Gift Mpho Leremi’s name to those that played with and against him, along with those that watched him, still ignites as much excitement as it does sadness.
Leremi lost his life in the early hours of September 3, 2007, just days after his seventh appearance for what was his new club Mamelodi Sundowns.
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He would have turned 23 just over a week later having been born on October 13, 1984.
At 22, he was still young.
Very young and yet he had already been in the professional ranks for five years and left memories at Orlando Pirates, where he got his break as a teenager in 2002.
Leremi was already a prominent name in juniors’ football, so much that it is said one opposition coach assigned as many as three players to mark him in one game, but it all came to no benefit.
In only his first season at The Buccaneers, he featured in 24 games (15 starts) and scored twice as they won the league under Roy Barreto.
Just to understand how good he was, Leremi was already playing for the national Under-23 team before he even turned 18.
Conti Kubheka was confident enough to have him starting as a 17-year-old in September 2002 in the All-Africa Games qualifiers against Malawi at Eldorado Park Stadium.
He played in the 2004 Olympic Games qualifiers with players three years older than him, but it never showed a bit.
So, through playing as many as 21 games for the Under-23 national team, he still played for Amajita and also earned four caps for Bafana Bafana before turning 21.
Throughout all of what happened at Pirates, which came to a disappointing ending in his last season, Leremi scored memorable goals.
He totalled 16 to his name but had none in his last season (2006/07) at the Soweto giants when he was even playing in the reserve league on Mondays.
Leremi was a treasure, and this explains why he is still cherished up to this day.
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The power he had in both feet equalled his wizardry, allowing to eliminate opponents at pace.
Unfortunately, the substitute appearance he made against Les Astres on the first day of September became his last and today, a day born the day he met his death, is now an adult.
Photo: Duif du Toit/Gallo Images
