Azania Mboya is disgusted at the public’s treatment of slain Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa’s lover.
Johannesburg - I was distressed to hear of the tragic death of our Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa, cut down by thugs in the prime of his life.
I don’t wish to be linked to the disrespectful tenor of Gareth Cliff’s verbal diarrhoea (“Cliff, Mbalula in Verwoerdian spat”, The Star, November 4), but I confess to being surprised at the adulation accorded to a sportsman who has captained our team for a handful of games. It hardly qualifies his being classed as a sporting legend warranting a provincial funeral.
However, any murder is one too many and I’m pleased he had such a wonderful send-off in a country where most murders aren’t front page news.
I am disgusted, however, at the public’s treatment of his lover Kelly Khumalo, who has been the target of abuse.
It is a classic example of gender discrimination. When a woman has an extramarital affair, she is castigated. She is known as the mistress of her male lover – there is no equivalent word for the man.
The unfairness is borne out by her defence that she was unaware that Meyiwa was married until the relationship was six months old and she was pregnant.
What right do hordes of vengeful football fans have to attack her when Meyiwa escapes all condemnation?
This type of gender discrimination is not confined to South Africa. When president Bill Clinton used the power of his high office for a sordid sexual dalliance with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, her reputation was trashed while amorous Bill was elected to a second presidential term.
Sadly, the biggest victim of this discrimination could be Meyiwa and Khumalo’s love child.
Azania Mboya
Hillbrow, Joburg
* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
The Star