The community of Alexandra and its Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association celebrated the life of the late Kabelo ‘KB’ Masalesa with a memorial service that was held at Sankopano Hall on July 26.
Kabelo was one of the six young soccer stars who went to Palestine in a football game and unfortunately met his fate in what is believed to be a drowning incident.
Ward 105 councilor Floyd Ngwenya said the community of Alex has lost a jewel so precious, and not only his family has lost, but the entire community. “As the community of Alex, we have lost a promising star, someone we had hoped as the community would add to the list of stars we already have.
“To the young soccer players and the club owners, I would love to say Alex is known for producing stars, as we already have renowned stars. I urge that they don’t only play for themselves but play for Kabelo to make sure that his spirit of representing Alex continues within the hearts of each and every person in Alex.”
Secretary of the ANC’s Zone 13 in Alexandra Banele Sangcozi, who is also one of the people who accompanied the boys to Palestine, said the tragedy struck them just after they had come back from Jerusalem which is the holiest place in the world.
Kabelo’s peers and teammates described him as a person who loved soccer dearly, and a person who was full of life.
“I remember how Kabelo used to tell us about him owning a business one day, and I believed him because he loved bossing everyone around,” said one of the teammates.
“Kabelo played a good game on the day of his passing, he scored two goals which made us win the game,” said Menzi Ngubane, a young player who was selected together with Kabelo to Palestine.
“After the game, we went to our rooms and Kabelo went out for a swim. When we woke up the next morning he was not around. It was after our search that we found him inside the water.”
Banele Buthelezi, the coach of Alex Black Poison Soccer Club, said Kabelo left him with a huge gap in his heart because he didn’t regard him as a player but as a young brother. “As young as Kabelo was, we shared a lot, we advised each other on things. It was great seeing young children from Alex going international to play soccer, but God had other plans.”
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