South African President Jacob Zuma yesterday led a shocked nation in voicing outrage at the murder of national soccer captain Senzo Robert Meyiwa after the talismanic goalkeeper was shot dead during an apparent home robbery.
Police said the 27-year-old was killed late on Sunday after burglars broke in to the house of his pop-star girlfriend Kelly Khumalo, making off with a cellphone.
More than 17,000 people were killed in South Africa last year, but the slaying of a sporting hero has stunned the crime-weary nation.
“Words cannot express the nation’s shock at this loss,” Zuma said, amid a national outpouring of grief and anger.
Fighting back tears, South Africa coach Shakes Mashaba described Meyiwa as a “very kind person” who was the first name on his teamsheet, while teammates at his local club the Orlando Pirates were sobbing and crying uncontrollably at a team meeting yesterday, club officials said.
Police offered an increased reward of 250,000 rand (US$23,000) for any information leading to his killer’s arrest.
Tributes to Meyiwa flooded in from across the world, including from FIFA World Cup winning goalkeeper and Spain captain Iker Casillas, who posted on Instagram a photograph of Meyiwa after the pair had swapped jerseys, saying: “Very sad for the dramatic loss of friend RIP Senzo.”
This is just the latest tragedy to befall South Africa’s sporting fraternity, which is still reeling from the death of former 800m world champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi in a car crash on Friday last week and the jailing of fallen Oympic hero Oscar Pistorius for the killing of his girlfriend last year.
South African National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega said that with the eyes of the world again on the nation’s high crime rate, a team of national and provincial officers was working the case.
However, Phiyega rejected accusations that Meyiwa’s killing was being treated differently because of the victim’s high profile.
“We believe that someone, somewhere, somehow knows something about this crime,” she said, appealing to the public to come forward.
Meyiwa was gunned down at a house in Vosloorus, a township about 30km south of Johannesburg, at about 8pm on Sunday.
“It is alleged that two suspects entered the house and confronted the occupants, while a third suspect was outside,” Phiyega said.
After an altercation “a shot was fired, the goalkeeper was hit in the upper body and was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival,” she added.
One cellphone was taken and the three suspects fled on foot. Police have launched a manhunt for the suspects, described as being in their late 20s and early 30s.
After many years in the South African soccer shadows, Meyiwa had a meteoric climb to fame with the Orlando Pirates.
Meyiwa displaced goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs as first-choice at Pirates, the only South African side to be crowned African champions, while a recent injury to captain and goalie Itumeleng Khune gave Meyiwa a chance on the national team.
New South Africa coach Mashaba not only promoted Meyiwa to replace Khune, but made him captain of a team that have been in the doldrums for some years.
Meyiwa responded by leading the team to victories over Sudan and Congo Brazzaville, and draws with Congo Brazzaville and Nigeria. He did not concede in the four matches and if South Africa defeat Sudan next month they will qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
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