Former Bafana Bafana captain Neil Tovey is recovering well following a heart attack and is expected to be moved from the intensive care unit of an uMhlanga hospital to a general ward by the end of the week.

The 52-year-old was playing squash near his home in Mount Edgecombe, north of Durban, when he suffered the attack, before being driven to the nearby hospital by his girlfriend.

He experienced more than one attack at the time, before undergoing surgery when a stent was successfully inserted into a blocked artery.

"I feel fine now," he told local newspaper the Daily News.

"It looks like there was a build-up of cholesterol over time and that narrowed the artery and caused the heart attack.

"I will obviously have to watch my eating from now on."

Tovey currently works as a commentator and TV analyst for SuperSport.

He made over 50 appearances for South Africa between 1992 and 1997 and famously led the country to the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations title.

A former defender, he was also a prominent member of Kaizer Chiefs for almost the entire 1990s. He has coached Mamelodi Sundowns and AmaZulu since then.

Durban club AmaZulu is where he spent some of his playing days and Usuthu's general manager Peter O'Connor said the news was a big shock to him.

"It's been a massive shock for us because as we know Neil has been incredibly active all his life in football, squash and golf, so that's a massive shock and you certainly don't expect that of a person in his physical condition," he said.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with him."