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In the wake of racing car driver Gugu Zulu’s tragic death, his best friend reflects on an inspiring man
‘If something happens to me, you must please make sure my daughter, Lelethu, is well taken care of.”
That’s what racing driver Gugu Zulu asked of his best friend, Andre Ross, a few months ago.
That day, Ross became little Lelethu’s godfather.
Zulu died on Monday while attempting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
A devastated Ross told City Press at the home of Zulu’s parents in Bryanston yesterday that he now has a duty to look after the one-year-old girl.
He also remembers that he told Zulu that it would be Zulu who’d bury him one day.
“I said this because he was extremely fit – much more than me,” he said, choking back tears.
It was such a tragedy, he said, that he was now burying him.
Ross had just returned to the Zulu family home after a memorial ride in Zulu’s honour held at Northern Farm. Zulu was not just a motor racing champion, but was in love with motorbikes too.
He says Zulu’s last words to him were: “See you on Sunday to celebrate your birthday.” It never crossed his mind that he’d never see him again.
At the parents’ home yesterday, cars were parked outside and mourners came in droves to deliver their condolences, while others came with wreathes.
Zulu’s wife, Letshego, and sister, Liyanda, were told by family elders not to speak to journalists.
Zulu’s uncle Tseliso Motloheloa said: “Letshego is strong. She is coping.”
Of the funeral arrangements, Motloheloa said: “We want to give him a decent send-off. We have realised that he did not belong to us only, but to the nation.”
Sitting on a beige couch in the family’s open-plan lounge, Ross was doing his best to put on a brave face.
“I’ve lost a brother. We were very close,” he said, trying not to make eye contact.
Ross and Zulu met five years ago at a bicycle race and hit it off immediately.
“Our friendship developed from there. I was even his groomsman at his wedding,” he says.
He says when Liyanda broke the news of Zulu’s death to him on Monday, he couldn’t believe it.
“I’m still struggling to come to terms with the fact that I won’t see him again. If he died in a car accident ... but not like this. I’m going to miss him.”
He said it had always been Zulu’s dream to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Ross climbed the same mountain two years ago and invited to Zulu to join him, but he told him he couldn’t go without Letshego.
“Gugu was always chasing his dreams. He touched many young people’s lives. He invested his time for the kids of Diepsloot’s motorbike academy, called the Jala Pelo Foundation,” he adds.
Ross said Zulu used to drive motorcyclists from the academy around the country to competitions, inspired them to dream big and always called them a “bunch of winners”.
“One of his dreams was to drive a Dakar racing car. But he never got a chance,” he said.
Ross said he learnt from Zulu: “Do what you can do today and live your best life every day.”
“This is one the lessons I’m going to take forward.”
Motloheloa thanked the government and citizens of South African for their support and donations.
A memorial service in Zulu’s honour will be held on Tuesday at Kyalami race track in Johannesburg.
He will be laid to rest on Thursday after a funeral service at Rhema Bible Church in Randburg. He will be laid to rest at Westpark Cemetery.
