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 le ...

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

Career

Club career

Born in

Kroonstad Kroonstad (Afrikaans directly translated "Crown City") is the third largest city in the Free State (after Bloemfontein and Welkom) and lies two hours' drive on the N1 from Gauteng. Maokeng is an area within Kroonstad, and is occasionally used ...

, Free State, Ntuka joined English club

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

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. The ...

, 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) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Chie ...

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 football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the Dstv Premiership. United is known as ''Matsats ...

. 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 southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

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

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

coming in for

Nasief Morris Mogammat Nasief Morris (born 16 April 1981) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He left his country in 2001 to pursue a career in Europe, going on to play mostly in Greece but also in Spain and Cy ...

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 f ...

, 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 Male murder victims People murdered in South Africa South African murder victims People from Kroonstad Deaths by stabbing in South Africa Soccer players from the Free State (province) {{SouthAfrica-footy-bio-stub