Hundreds of mourners gathered to pay tribute to the two young soccer players who drowned at Lagoon Beach more than a week ago.
Buhle “Gora” Pantshwa and fellow Lokshin Spurs Football Club teammate Siyamthanda “Zaya” Mqolombeni were playing soccer on the beach when tragedy struck.
The 19-year-olds went into the water to retrieve a soccer ball, but were swept up by strong rip currents.
On Monday, 22 July, at spring low tide, their lifeless bodies were recovered just after 11 am at Lagoon Beach.
A week after the Milnerton-based soccer club in Joe Slovo and Phoenix was struck by the fatal blow, mourners gathered at the Joe Slovo community hall on Monday evening to pay their respects to the young players who they say had a bright future ahead of them.
At the memorial service, teammates, family and friends did not only reflect on the youngsters’ lives, but also on what they could have achieved in the years to come.
President of SAFA Cape Town Bennett Bailey led the service, said Pantshwa and Mqolombeni, who played at centreback and rightback respectively, were regulars in their teams and their presence will be missed.
Bailey said: “They wanted to secure a match for tomorrow. Like they do during the game. It was not about them, it was about the cause. They were regulars in the Lokshin team and their absence will be missed.”
A resident who was at the memorial service said the communities of Phoenix and Joe Slovo are devastated by the deaths of the youngsters.
The unnamed woman says: “Everyone was there, we are taken aback by this incident. We are worried that kids who aren't doing [wrong] things can die like that.”
Amos Siwayi, president of the Dunoon Local Football Association, claims the tragedy is a direct result of the lack of training facilities within communities.
Siwayi says: “If we have proper facilities in a safe environment, then we should not be talking about this. Those boys were under 19 and one of them could have gone on to make it professionally.”
Pantshwa was part of the Dunoon Academy team who played at the 2023 Bayhill Premier Cup.
Siwayi adds: “It is very bad that we lost such a talent, far away from home on the other side of Joe Slovo.”
Ward councillor Anthony Benadie expressed his condolences and revealed that they are looking at training facilities for the areas.
Benadie says: “It is not final yet, but it is our intention and currently being dis- cussed to establish training fields along Freedom Way in Phoenix.”
The boys’ families were not ready to talk about their passing.