Two years after rising soccer star Luke Fleurs’ death, his family awaits justice

The South African Football Association’s technical director, Molefi Ntseki, once said of the late Luke Fleurs: “I can put my head on the block. With proper development, coaching and training, if he keeps his feet on the ground, then he will make it overseas.”

Ntseki, who coached Fleurs in the U17 South African national team, predicted that he would reach and possibly even surpass the heights that former Panathinaikos and Bafana Bafana defender Nasief Morris managed during his stellar career.

“Even at age 16, he could kick with both feet and was very intelligent, as young as he was. I even said to him he’s our next Nasief Morris. His progression has been very fast. It’s down to his attitude: he’s a good boy, ­level-headed and has a lot of respect for people that he’s working with,” Ntseki told the Mail & Guardian in 2018.

Luke Fleurs killed

Unfortunately for Fleurs, his family and the general South African soccer community, the defender did not have an opportunity to truly fulfil the potential that Ntseki and many others saw in him.

On 3 April 2024, at the age of 24, Fleurs was fatally shot at a petrol station in Johannesburg during a hijacking.

At the time, he was on the books of South African soccer giant Kaizer Chiefs. Despite his never making an official appearance for the club during his time in Naturena, having signed in October the previous year, Ama­khosi opted to retire jersey number 26, which was his squad number at the Soweto giants.

Shortly after his death, six suspects were arrested in Soweto and the matter is still before the courts, to the frustration of the Fleurs family.

Fleurs was one of Simone and Theo Fleurs’s three children, alongside his older brother Joshua (30) and his sister Sydni (28).

“Sometimes I’m angry at Luke for fighting with those guys. But that car was his 21st-birthday gift to himself. It’s not very easy for someone who comes from the township to achieve what he achieved in his short time alive. Then somebody comes and just wants to rip it from him,” Simone told Daily Maverick.

“My daughter Sydni always says it feels as though her arm or leg has been cut off [because of Luke’s death]. And I can understand that, because to me it feels as though my heart has been ripped out. They were very close siblings; they were each other’s best friends,” she added.

Fleurs’ rapid rise

Having been trained by the Fish Hoek-based Ubuntu Football Academy since he was 12, Fleurs made a big move to Gauteng in 2018. His talent had been acknowledged by the now defunct SuperSport United. The club had a reputation for taking care of young players and giving them a platform to prosper.

He gradually established himself as one of the most exciting young players in South African football as his involvement in the SuperSport senior side increased season by season. The 2021/22 campaign was his best, as he made 24 appearances for Matsatsantsa in all competitions. That was when his progress and growth were recognised. He was named the Premiership’s best young player at the end of that season.

Despite this, Fleurs found himself out of favour with the technical team the following season, which culminated in his release by SuperSport in 2023.

He then joined Chiefs after he had impressed the club’s former coach, Ntseki, while training with the Soweto side, leading to Fleurs earning a two-year deal.

Luke, the bright spark

“Wherever Luke went while he was growing up, he was just a light. He’d make you laugh. On some occasions there would be tension in the house because one of us was angry for whatever reason. And Luke would come in and we’d just magically start talking, forgetting that we were angry,” Simone reminisced.

“Living in Mitchells Plain, we made many sacrifices towards the upbringing of our boys, specifically. We tried to shield them from the dangers out here, because gangsterism is very enticing in our area. It’s very difficult for young men,” she said.

The twist of fate that led to Fleurs being shot and killed, despite his parents doing everything they could to ensure he did not fall into the clutches of the trigger-happy lifestyle lived by his peers in the township, was a shock to the system for Simone.

“On that fateful night when I got the call, the first thing I said to myself was, God, give me the courage to accept the things I cannot change. Because I knew that nothing was ever going to be the same,” Simone said.

The last goodbye

Simone hated saying goodbye every time her son had to leave, whether it was to travel back to Fish Hoek when he was still at Ubuntu or when he moved to Gauteng.

“I did not go with him to the airport when he was leaving for Johannesburg [after signing for SuperSport] because I was also sad despite my happiness for his career growth.

“In fact, I never used to say goodbye to him. I used to greet him at home, hug him. But I couldn’t see him off when he had to leave. That’s not a moment I enjoyed,” Simone said.

“Saying goodbye to him forever? It’s something I can’t explain, not even to my therapist. I just went through the motions. I didn’t cry, even though I tried. But internally, I was... shattered. I was composed, but very cold. My husband and my children took it very badly; I had to be strong for them. So, I suppressed my feelings,” she said.

Despite wanting justice for her child, Simone says Fleurs’s death is a symptom of a bigger problem in South African society.

“If you look at the alleged perpetrators, they are young. Given South Africa’s socioeconomic situation, you can’t blame the youth for sometimes turning to crime for an easy buck,” she said.

“They are not the only youth caught up in crime. Criminals are just getting younger and younger. In Mitchells Plain, you get an 11-year-old gunman. How are we going to look 15 years from now? Is it going to get better? I don’t think so.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.