JOHANNESBURG: Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain and goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, 27, who was shot dead on Sunday, was born in Umlazi, south of Durban, on September 24, 1987.
He was killed at about 8pm in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, at a house believed to be that of his girlfriend, actress and singer Kelly Khumalo.
The talented gloveman joined the Orlando Pirates reserves at the age of 13, before he was promoted to the senior team in July 2005.
With nine years of Premier Soccer League experience under his belt, Meyiwa made more than 150 appearances for the Buccaneers, his last as recently as Saturday night, in Pirates’ 4-1 Telkom Knockout quarter-final win over Ajax Cape Town in Soweto.
Meyiwa was one of only a handful of players who had represented the country at all age-group levels – under-17, under-22, under-23, and the senior national team.
The shot-stopper, although already a household name by the start of the 2013/14 season, rose to prominence last year during Pirates’ Caf Champions League campaign.
Meyiwa saved two penalties in April last year against four-time African champions TP Mazembe, and helped Pirates become the first South African club to qualify for an African continental club competition’s group stage in seven years.
The keeper attracted interest from a number of African clubs following his heroics during the tournament, including Egypt’s Zamalek and Al-Ahly – the team that eventually beat Pirates in the 2013 final.
As a result of his superb displays during the African competition, under then-coach Roger De Sa, Meyiwa and Oupa Manyisa were honoured by the club earlier this year for their contributions.
The pair received the chairman’s award from club chief Irvin Khoza.
Meyiwa made an incredible 51 out of a possible 53 appearances during the 2013/14 season. He earned his first international cap in June last year, keeping a clean sheet in Bafana’s 2-0 away win over Lesotho.
With just five caps to his name, Meyiwa had bided his time, playing second fiddle to Kaizer Chiefs’ Itumeleng Khune, who was the country’s number one for some time.
But when Khune was injured in September, Meyiwa grabbed the opportunity and played in all four of South Africa’s 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers over the past two months, captaining the side in all four matches.
At the time of his death, Meyiwa had played seven games for Bafana Bafana and only conceded one goal in Bafana’s 1-1 draw with Australia in May.
Around the same time that Shakes Mashaba named Meyiwa the captain of the national team, Pirates also recognised the goalkeeper’s leadership qualities and named him captain of the club.
Meyiwa is survived by his wife, Mandisa, and daughter, and also has a daughter with Khumalo. – Sapa