Jeffrey Ntuka (10 May 1985 – 21 January 2012) was a South African

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played at both professional and international levels as a defender.

Career

Club career

Born in

Kroonstad Kroonstad ( in Afrikaans) is a town in Free State, South Africa, consisting of the following suburbs: Brentpark, Constantia, Constantia Park, Dawid Malanville, Elandia, Gelukwaarts, Goedgedacht, Heuningspruit, Industria, Jordania, Koek ...

, Free State, Ntuka joined English club Chelsea in 2003 and spent five years on loan at Belgium club

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. Th ...

, making 93 league appearances for them. Ntuka returned to South Africa in 2009, making his debut for

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 ...

in May 2009. After battling alcohol problems, Ntuka later played for

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 ...

. He was released by United in 2011.

International career

Ntuka earned five caps for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

between 2004 and 2007. He made his debut on 18 August 2004 in a 2–0 win over

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

coming in for Nasief Morris in the 88th minute. Ntuka was a member of South Africa's squad at the

2005 COSAFA Cup This page provides summaries to the 2005 COSAFA Cup. Format In the first round, twelve teams were divided into three groups of four teams each. Each group played a knockout tournament. The winners of each group joined Angola (holders) into the fi ...

, but had to withdraw due to injury. He played his last match on 27 May 2006.

Death

Ntuka was stabbed to death in

during the early hours of 21 January 2012. His killer, April Jao, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in November 2013.

References

1985 births 2012 deaths South African men's soccer players South Africa men's international soccer players Chelsea F.C. players K.V.C. Westerlo players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players SuperSport United F.C. players South African expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Men's association football defenders People murdered in South Africa South African murder victims Sportspeople from Kroonstad Deaths by stabbing in South Africa Soccer players from the Free State (province) 21st-century South African sportsmen {{SouthAfrica-footy-defender-stub