Athlete Zolani Ntongana, road cyclist Juan van Heerden and polo player Sibusiso Duma all lost their lives this week.

Born in Ngqamakwe in the Eastern Cape, Ntongana, 32, died in Cape Town after being hit by a motor vehicle while Van Heerden died tragically at his home in Gauteng. Duma died in a stabbing incident near Lidgetton, KwaZulu-Natal.

Ntongana finished third in the South African marathon championships in George earlier this year and represented South Africa at both the World half-marathon championships (2010) and the World Cross-Country Championships (2009).

Phalaborwa born Van Heerden, 25, was runner-up in the Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour in 2005 and ended 10th in the final stage of the world renowned Tour of Britain in 2008. A former winner of the Tour of Mauritius, he represented South Africa at numerous international events, including the Junior World Championships in 2004 as well as the Under-23 Cup of Nations in Europe, 2007.

Duma, 25, was South Africa’s first development polo player to achieve success at international level and was due to play in England later this year, a step which would have furthered his career immensely.

“This is indeed a treble tragedy for the South African sports family,” said SASCOC Chief Executive Officer Mr Tubby Reddy on Thursday. “The loss of just one sportsman or woman is bad enough… to lose three of our athletes in the space of a few days is a body blow.

“Our thoughts and condolences go out to their families and loved ones and to the sporting codes they leave emptier by their absence.”

Lebese, who was 38, died at the Helen Joseph hospital in Johannesburg. He died after suffering from an undisclosed illness that saw him in and out of hospital in recent months.

Speaking on behalf of SASCOC, Chief Executive Officer Tubby Reddy expressed his sadness. “We would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to Chillies’ family and friends. We have truly lost a talented son and he will be dearly missed.”

Although he had stints at Ria Stars and Orlando Pirates, ‘Chillies”, as he was affectionately known as, will be remembered for his days at Kaizer Chiefs.

The star midfielder made his debut for the Naturena based side in 1993, against the Buccaneers, and went on to make 220 appearances in black and gold.

Lebese moved to Orlando Pirates in 2001 after a brief spell with the now defunct Limpopo side Ria Stars, with whom he resurrected his flagging career.

In total, he played 279 top-flight matches over 13 years, but despite his obvious talent he only made one Bafana Bafana appearance in a 3-2 loss to Namibia in an international friendly in 1998.

Petersen, who passed away in Pretoria, after a short illness, had served his country in a number of prominent public service positions after studying social sciences at the University of the Western Cape as well as the University of Cape Town where he left his mark as a youth activist.

He was also a leader in the United Democratic Front, the African National Congress and his church.

“Vernie was a dear friend and colleague, said Sam, the head of the country’s Olympic governing body. “He was a gentle giant who came into the department and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. At a time when our Minister of Sport Mr Fikile Mbalula needs a well-grounded Director General, he and and indeed all of us in the sporting world, are robbed by the death of such a sound character.

“Vernie, as we all got to call him, understood the needs of sport and always found a fine balance between those needs and the bureaucracy required in his department. He firmly believed that the department needed to deliver, and deliver fast.”

Sam said though that Petersen’s legacy and influence would certainly live on in the sporting world. “What was being planned under his direction will culminate in the Sports Indaba that the Minister will convene and I would guess the planning towards the Indaba will now be driven with more vigour in honour of Vernie. It’s a cruel blow to the entire sports movement because we had just changed gear to do things better and quicker.

“To us who must soldier on and complete the task of transforming SA sport, let us take courage from the example that Vernie set for us. He always said we must stop all the big talk and start delivering to all of our people, wherever they found themselves.

“There are no words to console his wife June and the family but we thank them for supporting Vernie while he was leading us. You have lost a husband, father, grandfather and friend, and we as the sports movement have lost a dear leader. Lala ngoxolo Mhlekazi!”

Uren, of Port Elizabeth, was one of the pioneers of the struggle against discrimination in sport. He was active in cricket and as well as other sports and was a former board member of Cricket South Africa.

Speaking at the news of Uren’s passing SASCOC CEO Tubby Reddy said: “Our condolences go out to Raymond’s family.  “He was very prominent in the sports movement particularly the non-racial sports aspects. His loss will be sorely felt in South African sporting circles.”

Uren was an active member of the SACOS sporting body and also a chair of the Eastern Province Council of Sport.

Said SASCOC President Gideon Sam: “It’s always sad to say goodbye to someone in our sporting fraternity. Our job is continue the legacy that he left us.”

Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola also paid tribute to Uren’s contribution to South African sport. “He inspired many with his commitment to bring about the downfall of apartheid in sport, and then threw himself whole-heartedly into developing sport among the youth in a democratic society. ”

Earlier this year Uren was awarded an honorary doctorate in Education by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, honouring his substantial contribution to education and to the community of Nelson Mandela Bay in general.

The daily said the boy’s arm got stuck in the vent around 4pm on Thursday.

Netcare 911 spokesperson Jeffrey Wicks said paramedics were called to the scene in Craighall Park to find that Parkin had already started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). “It is thought that the boy had been submerged for nearly three minutes and was unresponsive when plucked from the water,” Wicks said.

“They [paramedics] arrived to find that the boy had been pulled from the water by his swimming coach, South African Olympic swimmer Terence Parkin.”

The boy was taken to the Garden City hospital and was in a stable condition. Wicks said he could not confirm the report that the boy had been sucked in by the vent.

Parkin won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

The Australian pair of John Fitzgerald and Todd Woodbridge went into the event as favourites and top seeds, while Norval and Ferreira were seeded four. The South Africans came through their first three matches in the bottom half of the draw with the loss of just one set. In the semi-finals they beat the unseeded Goran Ivanisevic and Goran Prpic in five sets and faced the sixth-seeded Germans of Boris Becker and Michael Stich in then final. It was Becker and Stich who played the big point better, going on to take the gold medal in four sets, 7-6 4-6 7-6 6-3.

The quality of the final could be seen in that Sepeng’s time of 1min 42.74sec bettered the 12-year-old Olympic record of Joaquim Cruz’s 1:43.00. Sepeng ran one of the races of his life but was eventually touched off by Vebjorn Nadal, of Norway, who crossed the line in 1:45.30.