Motaung was a joy on and off the field
Newspapers have been carrying daily reports with banner headlines that read "Sizwe Motaung is dying".
Yet even though the ominous reports prepared one for the worst, it still came as a shock when he finally died on Thursday. He was only 31 years old.
A close friend from Newcastle relayed the sad news about the death of a man who loyally served Leeds United, Jomo Cosmos, Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, and earned 49 caps for his country.
The sad and painful part of it all is that people will always remember the haunting pictures of a bed-ridden Motaung in hospital and not the heroic deeds he performed with distinction on football fields for various clubs and for his country.
But there will be those who will hold fond memories of Wesley Motaung, a down-to-earth fellow who preferred to be called Sizwe. A man with a perpetual smile on his face, he derived pleasure out of taking the mickey out of those around him.
Some of us had the pleasure of travelling with Sizwe and the Bafana Bafana squad across Africa on many occasions. And quite often we were faced with incredible odds as the hosts tried to throw obstacles in our way in an attempt to unsettle us.
But while those around him would be irritated and lose their tempers, Motaung would find the funny side of things and crack a joke about it all, making everybody break down in laughter and relieving the tension.
Motaung had been sick for a couple of months. Jomo Sono got a lot of South African players to organise a friendly game in Swaziland and raise funds for him.
He was admitted to the Legae Clinic in Mabopane in a critical condition. But after two weeks, his father allegedly forced the clinic to discharge him, from where he took him back to Newcastle again.
A fortnight ago, former Pretoria Callies midfielder Kaizer Ranamane was buried after a long illness. A couple of months ago, it had been Nick "Bazooka" Seshweni, Peter "Shaluza" Sello, Alfred "Ace" Mgedeza, Robert Kalaka, and now it's Sizwe.