On The Sad News Of Bonginkosi Ntuli's Passing
I'm still in shock, it's like someone is going to tell me that it was just a prank and Bongi is still alive. I can't believe it. Bongi was a very good person and I was fortunate enough to meet him and experience his growth both as a person and a player. We also went together to Mamelodi Sundowns in 2014. At the time, we didn't know anyone in Gauteng, we only had ourselves, and it was the first time that we left our families and moved to a different province. I was like his brother and whenever we needed advice and someone to talk to, we knew who to talk to. I never saw Bongi upset and I never saw him raise his voice to anyone. Not even once. Sometimes I would get upset at him and tell him that, "Don't be too respectful." He was very down-to-earth and I realised where he got that from because he was a man of faith. He grew up in a religious family, which is why he was the way he was as a person. That is all because of how he was raised. For his age, he was very strong and the way he played, he could bulldoze even the strongest defenders in the league.
More On The Man
I met Bongi at Golden Arrows and I remember one time when we were training, it was just before a FIFA international break. We were playing 11-v-11 and that day he was on fire. Everything he did on that day was top-notch. After that, we had a two-day break before reporting back to training on Monday. In our first session after the break, I could see that Bongi was not the same player that I saw before the break. I went up to him and said, "The player that I saw before the break is a player that will go to the national team and make it big in his career, and the player that I'm seeing today is a player that will play one season and disappear." Bongi looked down, like someone who was ashamed of his performance, and then he said to me, "Don't worry, grootman (big man), I will improve my performance." After that conversation, his game improved and he became consistent. We stuck together in those early days because of how we lived our lives – we were all about our work and wanted nothing else. That is how our friendship developed. Bongi was a rare human being.
On Joining Sundowns Together
In 2014, we both moved to Sundowns. At the time, Bongi was on form and doing well. Sundowns were not the only club that were interested in him, Orlando Pirates were also interested. There were couple of other teams that were interested in his signature. Strangely enough, when he was excited you couldn't tell because he was a very relaxed person. He was humble in victory. When he joined Sundowns, he was happy because moving to a bigger team was his dream. In our first training session with Sundowns, he couldn't stop smiling. He said to me, "I can't believe this is me playing for a bigger team and interacting with other big players like Teko Modise, Hlompho Kekana and Bongani Zungu." He was still in disbelief. I told him that, "You are here because you deserve it." He never came to training drunk, never missed training, and he was never in the newspapers for wrong reasons. He was that kind of a player. He was never ill-disciplined, he loved his work and gave his all whenever he was given an opportunity. Unfortunately, he left to join AmaZulu FC on loan and I was hurt because I lost a brother and friend and someone that I was close to. At Sundowns, the only person I knew well was Bongi, but I can say he struggled to adapt. Bongi was very young at the time. He grew up in eThekwini and spent all his life around people who loved him and he could see everyone who loved him. Being at Sundowns, it was not easy for him to adjust because he was never used to going to an empty house after training. Sometimes Sundowns would give us five days off and we didn't know what to do because we were not in our home province. I understood why the move (to AmaZulu) happened and I felt that it was good for him – to go to a place where he was going to do well. I also felt that he wanted that. The loan move was sad for me, but good for his career because after that he did wonders again.
On The Last Time The Two Spoke
The last conversation we had was when he was about to get married. He called me and said, "I think I've met my soulmate." He went on to tell me about his fiancée and how she made him grow as a person. From what Bongi was saying about his future wife, I knew that she was the one. She had true love for Bongi, and that was the last conversation that we had because unfortunately I couldn't attend his wedding. That was one sad part. Even now, I'm still shocked that he has passed. This weekend while I was busy studying online, my phone was switched off because I wanted to focus on my studies, and after I switched my phone on, I went through my WhatsApp and saw Thanduyise Khuboni's WhatsApp status. Khuboni posted a message with a broken heart, saying, 'Rest in Peace Bongi'. I was shocked. I immediately called Khuboni and asked him what this message was about and he explained to me that Bongi had passed away. When he told me that, I paused for a very long time because I didn't know what to say. Khuboni was still shocked at the time as well. I started making calls to other people who were close with Bongi. I thought about his father because we went to the same church together and he spoke highly of his son. He was that proud father. He loved his son. And then I started to think of his wife, his boys, and there was a lot going through my mind. For a while, I lost myself just thinking about other people, not about me, because Bongi was also my brother. Bongi was a loving person and I was in disbelief that he was no more. I will always miss my brother and may his beautiful soul rest in peace.
Siyanda Zwane,
Former Golden Arrows and Mamelodi Sundowns defender
