Tragedy strikes again as Ngcongca reportedly passes away in a car accident

A road accident has tragically claimed the life of Bafana Bafana right-back Anele Ngcongca, reports have emerged on Monday morning.

Various reports on Twitter have confirmed the news, as has reputable news outlet eNCA.

"He was involved in a car crash in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday morning," read the eNCA report.

"Ngcongca was thrown from the vehicle and died on the scene. His female companion is in a critical condition in hospital."

Although the name was not mentioned, KwaZulu-Ntal Brigadier Jay Naicker has confirmed an accident took place.

"At 05:00, a vehicle with two occupants lost control and overturned on the N2 freeway near Mtunzini. A 33-year-old man was declared dead at the scene," he said.

"The driver sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital for medical attention. The circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation. A case of culpable homicide has been opened for investigation by Mtunzini SAPS."

Ngcongca was only 33-years-old at the time of his passing and has played for Bafana Bafana on 52 occasions.

The Cape Town-born player unfortunately joins an ever growing list of former Premier Soccer League (PSL) stars who have been killed in motor vehicle accidents, including Lesley Manyathela, Gift Leremi (both Orlando Pirates), Mondli Cele (Maritzburg United), Richard Henyekane (Golden Arrows) and Cecil Lolo (Ajax Cape Town).

Ngcongca made his initial inroads into professional football with FC Fortune, then playing in South Africa's second tier.

A move to Belgium followed where he enjoyed a lot of success with Genk, where he played over 200 matches and helped the team win the Belgian Cup twice as as well as the Belgian Pro League and the Belgian Super Cup.

The Khayelitsha-born defender then moved to France and had a brief spell with Troyes before returning home to play for Sundowns in 2016.

During his time in Pretoria he was part of a Sundowns squad which won the league title three times as well as the Nedbank Cup and Telkom Knockout. He did battle with injury with the Brazilians although he did still play 104 times for them.

Ngcongca had seemingly signed for Belgian second-tier side KSV Roeselare in July, but then an about turn transpired when it emerged just like last week that he was signing for AmaZulu.

AmaZulu had however not yet confirmed the signing and Ngcongca was not in the squad which lost 4-3 to Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday.

His signing was however expected to have been announced soon.