Family and team-mates pay moving tribute to killed Ajax footballer

FAMILY, friends and teammates of late Ajax Cape Town midfielder and defender Cecil Sonwabile Lolo came together in a heartfelt but joyous celebration of his short life yesterday.

The memorial service for the 27-year-old was held at the Thusong Centre in Khayelitsha, where soccer lovers and teammates remembered Lolo through song and dance. Scores of Ajax supporters arrived at the venue in sports T-shirts carrying vuvuzelas and singing at the top of their voices.

Ajax chaplain Bruce Nadin said the spirit brought to the event by the fans was exactly how Lolo lived, and how he would have loved to be remembered.

Lolo’s team-mates could not find words to express their loss, instead treating the crowd to what was described as an everyday occurrence in the Ikamva changing rooms. The men sang, danced and shed tears as they remembered their fallen warrior the only way they knew how.

Speakers at the service described Lolo as a courageous, fun-loving warrior who never let challenges stand in his way.

His mother Noxabiso was so emotional she covered her face with her scarf when Ajax chief executive Ari Efstathiou announced Lolo would be buried with his #21 jersey and no player in the Ajax team would again wear the number.

Lolo died on Sunday when he was in a car crash on Spine Road. He is survived by his mother, sister and three children, Thiyani, Lulukelo and Lulo.