Jacob Lekgetho

Jacob "Bobo" Lekgetho (born March 24, 1974 in Soweto – died September 9, 2008 in Johannesburg) was a retired South African footballer who played as a left back during the 1990's and 2000's

Career

Lekgetho was born in the Moletsane area of Soweto and began playing professionally with Moroka Swallows FC in 1995. He went on to make 155 appearances for the club before leaving for Russia's FC Lokomotiv Moscow in 2001. He helped the club win the league title in 2002, but returned to South Africa in 2004 following the death of his wife.

He was capped 25 times for the South African national team, making his international debut in a 1-0 win over Malta in May 2000 and playing his last match for Bafana Bafana in a 3-0 World Cup Qualifying defeat to Ghana in Kumasi on June 20 2004. He was a member of the squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan where he came on as a substitute in the 3-2 defeat to Spain.

Death

Hoax

On February 19, 2007, Russian web-based news source Rusfootball and Russian edition of the UEFA website reported that Lekgetho had been killed in a car accident in Cape Town. Other media such as gazeta.ru, Sport-Express, and Regnum picked up the story. On February 20, Rusfootball published the refutation, confirming that the information was false.

Actual death

In September 2008, it was confirmed by various South African sources that Lekgotho had died in Johannesburg, aged 34, after a lengthy battle with an undisclosed illness. According to Sport-Express the illness was AIDS.