Daily Sun (December 2 2014) - GIFT LEREMI died seven years ago... His body may have been laid to rest but according to his gogo, his restless soul is haunting her.
HE COMES TO ME, LOOKING FOR PEACE, SHE SAID.
"He is always in my dreams. He cries and tells me he is not resting well," said Mirriam Matsemela (69) from Orange Farm in the Vaal.
Mirriam said that she has even made traditional beer and spoken to Gift to give her time to make things right, but it hasn't
helped.
"I know why Gift's soul can't rest," she said.
"It was me who raised him. He was only three months old when he came to me. "He had my family name.
"His name was Gift Matsemela. I was a domestic worker and I had to do it by myself.
"Then, when he was 12 it was clear he was going to be a great football player so his parents took him back. They changed his name to Leremi."
Mirriam said Gift was introduced to the ancestors with the wrong name.
"Gift was never introduced to the Leremi ancestors so they don't know him. Gift's spirit was supposed to be called using the Matsemela surname," she said.
She told Daily Sun it hurt her when the boy was taken from her and it hurt even more when she found out they had changed his name to Leremi, the surname of his father, Robbie (47).
"That man never did anything for the boy. He did no rituals for him," said Mirriam.
She said when Gift made it big at Orlando Pirates, Robbie promised to build her a house.
She said it broke her heart to read about her own grandson in the newspapers.
"Even when he was having drug problems, I asked them to bring him to me but they never did."
She said she saw Gift's death before he died.
"The night before I dreamt I was at a funeral and there was a fancy casket.
"I couldn't see who was inside because it was closed," said Mirriam.
She heard the following day on the radio that a soccer star had been killed in a car crash.
"They didn't mention the name but I knew it was Gift," said Mirriam.
She said she was treated as a stranger at Gift's funeral. "My daughter and I don't speak," she said.
Vusi Makhubo said he used to coach Gift when he was still a child.
"He was a very talented boy," said Vusi.
"His gogo is in pain and I don't know what to do to help her."
Gift's mother, Mmabatho Matsemela (43) said Mirriam must go to the Leremi family if Gift is haunting her.
She said she gave Gift the Leremi surname because she thought that he should use his father's surname.
Leremi died in a car crash in 2007. At the time he was playing for Mamelodi Sundowns.
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
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