Ntutu first showed promise as an athlete whilst at the Athlone school, showing at aptitude for sprinting. He was inspired to compete at the Paralympic Games after a pupil at his school qualified for the South Africa team at the 2000 Games in Sydney. He took onboard a local trainer, David Williams, and began training at the Vygieskraal Stadium in Athlone. His efforts were rewarded, when in 2004, he was selected for the South African team at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens. Initially classified as a T13 category athlete, for competitors with limited vision, he entered two events in Athens; the 100 metres sprint (T13) and the long jump (F13). He finished sixth overall in the long jump and his time of 11.34 in the heats of the 100m saw him finish two hundredths of a second outside the qualification time for the finals. Two years later he won his first major international medal, taking bronze in 100 metre sprint at the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships in Assen.