Slain soccer star’s mom recounts night of trauma
“You’ve robbed not only a boy from the street, like you. You robbed him of his dream, you robbed us of so much that he wanted to do, wanted to give, still wanted to be.”
These were the words of the mother of promising Kaizer Chiefs Football Club soccer star Luke Fleurs, killed in a car hijacking earlier this year, to the men who allegedly took her son’s life.
Fleurs, 24, was shot and killed at a garage in Honeydew, Johannesburg on April 3, before the suspects drove off with his red VW Golf 8 GTI.
The incident made headlines around the world, as players and soccer legends, including Benni McCarthy and Lionel Messi, extended their condolences to the family.
A specialist team was appointed to investigate the case, which led to the arrest of six suspects.
The six are on trial for murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and defeating the ends of justice.
They have made several appearances in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court, where they were recently denied bail.
Speaking for the first time in an exclusive interview with the Cape Times, Simone Fleurs said that as parents they had forgiven the perpetrators but the impact of their actions was everlasting.
“What will satisfy me is speaking to them and saying to them face to face, you’ve robbed not only a boy from the street, like you. You robbed him of his dream, you robbed us of so much that he wanted to do, wanted to give, still wanted to be. The impact of your actions is everlasting and for that you need to forgive yourself.
“I’d like to leave them with that because when they think back on the reason why they are sitting behind bars, it should eat at them until they bring change to themselves. You’re going to be living with yourself for the rest of your life,” Simone said.
Born in Mitchells Plain, Fleurs signed with the Ubuntu Football Academy in Fish Hoek in 2013 at the age of 12. At 17 years old, he made his debut for Ubuntu’s national first division. By 2018, he signed a long-term deal with SuperSport United.
He spent five years with SuperSport, before making the move to Kaizer Chiefs last year. He died before making his official debut for the team.
Fleurs had moved to Johannesburg after he joined SuperSport United.
According to his mother, moving to Johannesburg was meant to be a springboard for her son’s career, and a way for him to achieve his lifelong dream of being scouted by an international team.
Recalling that fateful night, she said: “A friend of (his) called at the same time that his dad was out buying supper.
“Luke was out doing the same. He was at the garage, apparently he was drawing money, filling up his car and he was also about to buy supper.
“I got the call, his friend tells me ‘auntie Simone, Luke was just shot’. I put the phone down without saying goodbye and I went into prayer but I couldn’t pray.
“All I could manage was ‘Lord give me the courage to accept the things I cannot change’. Because I wondered ‘why are they not rushing with him to hospital, it must be fatal’.
“Minutes later I got a call again to say he’s no more.
“The first one who came from the room was my son (Josh). The two brothers were chatting before this incident.
“He said ‘Luke just stopped talking to me’. I could not answer him, then his sister came out of the room and already it went viral, within a short space of time.
“She started shouting, Josh started to tear up. I also broke down. His father came home, he looked at all of us and dropped everything, ‘don’t tell me something happened to Luke?’
“I said yes, it is Luke but it’s not good news. He just shouted no, no, no – knowing that it was the worst.”
She said while she had been contacted by the garage owner about the footage of the incident, she hadn’t looked at the video yet, as she was not yet strong enough to face the moment.
“I only had the courage to talk (to the garage owner) two weeks ago. He gave me the story verbally, it happened within four minutes and watching the footage he walked out about four times.
“So I then ended our conversation because I wasn’t ready. I’m still in the dark about what happened from the moment they approached him till the moment they drove off with the car and left him on the ground.”
She said the incident also brought back trauma for her sister, who had been a victim of a hijacking a few years ago. The severity of hijacking as a crime was not dealt with harshly enough by the justice system, despite leaving a lasting impact of immense trauma on the victim, she said.
In light of this, she felt the punishment for this type of crime needed to be harsher.
Car hijacking statistics have seen a year-on-year increase, from 4 462 incidents for the period October to December 2019 to 5 973 by October to December 2023. Gauteng made up the lion’s share of incidents, at 3 010 for the 2023 period, a 14.4% increase from the previous year.
There were several plans in the works to honour her son’s legacy through community projects, including reviving a local school league as well as a crime awareness campaign.
The case against the accused is expected to resume on August 16.
Cape Times