The captain of the South African national soccer team was fatally shot at his girlfriend’s house during an attempted robbery Sunday night as he tried to apprehend the intruders, police and an eyewitness said.
Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was killed around 8 p.m. after two gunmen entered a house in Vosloorus township near Johannesburg while an accomplice of theirs waited outside. The 27-year-old Meyiwa was shot in the upper body, police spokesman Brig. Neville Malila said Monday.Tumelo Waka Madlala, a friend of Meyiwa’s who said he was at the house during the attempted robbery, said the goalkeeper was shot while trying to stop the intruders, who had demanded cellphones and money from people inside the home.
“As they were running away we tried to stop them and that is when they shot him at point blank range,” Madlala said.The house belonged to Meyiwa’s girlfriend Kelly Khumalo, a South African singer and celebrity, witnesses said. There were seven people in the house before the intruders entered, according to police. No one else was hurt.
South Africa’s police force offered a reward of nearly $23,000 for information leading to arrests in the death of the captain of the country’s most popular national sports team. Meyiwa also played for the Orlando Pirates, one of South Africa’s biggest clubs.
National soccer team coach Ephraim Mashaba wiped away tears at a news conference in Johannesburg as he spoke about Meyiwa, who had recently been made South Africa captain and led the team in four African Cup of Nations qualifiers this year. He hadn’t conceded a goal in the four games. “Most of the time, these things come when you least expect,” coach Mashaba said, tears running down his cheeks. “We’re going to miss Senzo a lot ... never mind his saving goals.”
South African police announced late Sunday on their Twitter account that Meyiwa had been shot and killed, adding it was breaking protocol to announce his death soon after the shooting. Police also called for calm, saying “upset” people had gathered at the house and at the hospital where Meyiwa was confirmed dead.
Police said he was shot after an “altercation” with the suspects and were treating the incident as an attempted robbery and had opened a murder case.