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Online Reporter
Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa was shot and killed on Sunday trying to protect his girlfriend during a robbery at her home near Johannesburg, officials said on Monday.
The 27-year-old Orlando Pirates goalkeeper suffered a single shot through the chest during the incident at the home of Kelly Khumalo, a local actress and singer.
“Two guys entered the house and demanded cellphones, money and other valuables,” provincial Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malubane told reporters at the scene.
“Senzo tried to protect Kelly because one of the men had a gun pointed towards her.”
Meyiwa was killed around 8pm Sunday after two gunmen entered a house in Vosloorus township near Johannesburg while an accomplice waited outside, the national police force said on its Twitter account.
The three assailants then fled on foot, according to the police service, which offered a reward of nearly $14,000 for information leading to arrests in the case.
Police said there were seven people in the house during the attack, and that the shooting followed an “altercation”.
Meyiwa was declared dead on arrival at hospital, the police added.
South Africa’s national team coach Ephraim Mashaba comforted several of Meyiwa’s teammates who were at the hospital not long after the shooting.
Authorities said they would do everything possible to find the killers.
South Africa has a high rate of violent crime, but it was not immediately clear whether the house where Meyiwa was staying was targeted by thieves or gunmen with another motive. Solomon Makgale, a South African police spokesman, declined to comment, referring Associated Press to updates on the police Twitter account.
Meyiwa’s South African soccer club Orlando Pirates said in a statement that it “has learned with sadness about the untimely death of our number one goalkeeper and current captain Senzo Meyiwa”.
“This is a sad loss whichever way you look at it to Senzo’s family, his extended family, Orlando Pirates and to the nation,” the Pirates chairman, Irvin Khoza, said.
Meyiwa, 27, was South Africa’s captain in its four qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations this year, including its last game, a 0-0 draw with Republic of Congo on 15 October. He played for Orlando Pirates on Saturday in a 4-1 win over Ajax Cape Town.
It was the second death to hit South African sports in three days, as former 800m world champion runner Mbulaeni Mulaudzi was killed in a car crash on Friday. At the time, the president, Jacob Zuma, said “the nation has lost a true hero.”
Early on Monday morning, the youth league of South Africa’s ruling party sent condolences to the families of Meyiwa and Mulaudzi, saying “their premature passing is indeed a great loss to the country and sporting nation”.
Meyiwa’s international team-mate Dean Furman, who plays for South Africa and Doncaster Rovers, tweeted: “Beyond devastated at the loss of our captain & friend Senzo Meyiwa. thoughts & prayers are with his family & friends at this terrible time.”
Darren Keet, a fellow South African goalkeeper who plays for Belgian club KV Kortrijk and the national side, offered his deepest condolences to Meyiwa’s family and friends. He wrote: “Deeply saddening to hear this news about our captain and friend”, adding that Meyiwa would be “missed, but never forgotten”. He said Meyiwa’s killing was sad for South Africa.
Source: Online reports
Bunjiwe Mkwananzi
Bongani Ndlovu