Surely his parents and family should have already sensed a special feeling upon deciding to name a baby twice with the same name Gift Mpho.
Tuesday morning, September 3, 2007, the country woke up to the devastating news that a South African footballer turning out for Mamelodi Sundowns had been killed in a car crash in the early hours of the morning in on the R556 near Alberton while driving a BMW 3 series.
There was suddenly a wave of speculative talk about who this footballer could have been. Then confirmation came that Gift Leremi had perished in that car accident.
The gift that God had given South Africa had suddenly been taken away.
You could feel the sense of sadness in the air as the reality began to sink in that Leremi was no more.
He had just crossed over to Sundowns from boyhood club Orlando Pirates and had already won four Bafana Bafana caps at the time, while also playing in the national Under-20 and Under-23 teams.
Such was Gift’s football abilities that I even knew of people who don’t know a thing about football yet still knew about Continental – as Leremi was fondly known by his peers and fans.
But then it is with sorrow that I have grown to understand and accept the reality that we are a community that has a tendency of forgetting about those that God afforded the ability of being different once they have left this world.
Leremi played professional football for just five years and passed just over a month before turning 23, leaving me wondering why God always blesses us with such people and then also decides to take them away so quickly.
You didn’t need to have been a Ghost to appreciate that Leremi was a genius. I have never seen a teenager who is able to play with both his left and right, and pack a powerful shot with both feet.
He had just recently joined Sundowns when he passed away but even the Ka Bo Yellow Nation can attest to that he had already left lasting memories for them at the time of his passing away.
Worse was that his death came just 12 days before what would have been a memorable 2007 SAA Supa 8 cup final against his old club Pirates – the team that brought him fame.
To me Gift was a beast of a footballer; so much so that whenever I see the power and precision that Ronaldo plays his football with I am reminded a bit about the late.
There is absolutely no need to explain why he was also fittingly nicknamed Va Va Voom!
He had the whole world ahead of him and would have been turning 31 next month.
I always nod my head in agreement when I recall former KICK OFF staffer Sandile Mchunu’s words that Gift was the most supremely gifted player of his generation, but then just like what normally happens in this country he couldn’t make use of most of his talent until we lost him forever.
He broke through into the Pirates first team as a teenager – something that rarely happens at the club – and such was his hunger and ability that straight after making his debut against Moroka Swallows at Rand Stadium we were already convinced that The Ghost had found a gem.
Aged just 17 he caused havoc for Swallows as Pirates won 5-0 on August 8, 2002 in a BP Top 8 quarter-final contest.
I have heard from those who saw him play in his younger years in Pimville, Soweto that he was always destined for greatness.
At the time of his death I already had Leremi’s name in the list of stars I envisaged playing for Bafana Bafana in the World Cup, which was to be held in this country for the first time just under three years later.
Why? He was young and wonderfully gifted, even though he tended to be a bad boy.
Not only was he clever on the ball, he was also quick and played football with enthusiasm – more like what I normally see when I take my little boy out to play with his buddies in our neighbourhood park.
Added to that was that, Gift had that arrogance on the field which won him my favour. I love players who stamp their authority on the field.
Of course Leremi was never a saint – which is normal with all of us – but there is no arguing that he touched hearts and souls, charmed the moody and made many adults jump up in joy when he was on the field.
He drank and loved a good time just like most of us, but that never took away that he was a competent footballer.
We might argue that this was a gift lost, but then we can never debate that he still gave us more than what we would expect of any typical South African footballer who hasn’t turned 23 yet.
Maybe at times we are a society that is obsessed with judging so much that we end up misunderstanding certain personalities.
Ah boy, you were gone too soon!
Gift mfethu, we will always remember you and trust me I always tell your story to my own kids, grandkids and hopefully to my great grandkids because you were a gem!
May your soul rest in peace Gift!