Luke Donn Fleurs (3 March 2000 – 3 April 2024) was a South African professional footballer who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

South African Premier Division The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afric ...

side

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) is a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premiership. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Kings" or "Chiefs" in Zu ...

Club career

Fleurs was born in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

on 3 March 2000. He was from

Mitchells Plain Mitchells Plain is a large census designated sub-place located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multi ...

but moved to

Fish Hoek Fish Hoek (, meaning either Fish Corner or Fish Glen) is a coastal suburb of Cape Town at the eastern end of the Fish Hoek Valley on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape, South Africa. Previously a separate municipality, Fi ...

after signing for Ubuntu Cape Town's academy in 2013, at the age of 13. He made his

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

debut aged 17, and made 18 league appearances in his first season of professional football. Fleurs signed for

club

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional association football, football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the South African Premier Di ...

on a long-term deal in summer 2018. On 26 October 2023, Fleurs joined fellow Premiership side

, signing a two-year contract with an option for a further year.

International career

Fleurs represented South Africa at under-20 level. He was called up for the

Bafana Bafana The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Bafana Bafana (The Boys in Zulu), the ...

in 2021 and 2022, albeit without receiving a cap.

Death

Fleurs was shot dead in a hijacking on 3 April 2024, at the age of 24. The shooting took place at a petrol station in the

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

suburb of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, during which the gunmen shot him in the upper body and fled with his vehicle. The South African Premier Division said a moment of silence will be observed at all first and second-tier games on 6 and 7 April in memory of Fleurs. Six suspects were later arrested in Slovoville,

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

and were believed to be members of a carjacking syndicate active in

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

. In the memory of Fleurs,

retired jersey number 26.

References

External links

* 2000 births 2024 deaths Soccer players from Cape Town South African men's soccer players Men's association football central defenders South Africa men's youth international soccer players South African Premier Division players National First Division players Ubuntu Cape Town F.C. players SuperSport United F.C. players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players for South Africa Deaths by firearm in South Africa 2024 murders in South Africa South African murder victims 21st-century South African sportsmen {{SouthAfrica-footy-defender-stub