DURBAN - The wife of the slain Lindani Myeni, Lindsay, has arrived at her husband’s memorial service with her two young children and her in-laws at the Empangeni Rugby Club.
Myeni’s grandmother Ntombi Shushu has also arrived at the venue along with friends and families on Thursday morning.
Some of the mourners were wearing T-shirts bearing images of Myeni’s face.
Myeni, the 29-year-old former rugby player was shot dead by Honolulu police officers on April 14.
The police said they had been responding to an alleged break-in when the shooting occurred.
Myeni’s remains arrived last week Friday after the KZN provincial government stepped in to facilitate their repatriation with the US authorities.
His funeral is expected to take place this Saturday.
KZN MEC for Art, Culture, Sports and Recreation Hlengiwe Mavimbela, officials from Umhlathuze Municipality, KZN Sports Confederation and Scouts were also in attendance.
Speaking as Myeni’s remains arrived in the country at the weekend, KZN Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla KhozaKhoza said it was with great sadness that they welcomed home the body of a son of the soil who was killed by those meant to protect him.
“The hostility displayed by the trigger-happy Honolulu police in killing Lindani revived wounds of the transatlantic slave trade, Jim Crow, and public lynchings of black people in America. As well as our country’s horrific past where black people suffered untold brutality and human rights abuses by the apartheid security forces. It is not a crime to be black but they killed him like an animal. As a country, we cannot allow this and we must stand united in our fight for justice,” she said.
Khoza urged US president Joe Biden to ensure those implicated were swiftly brought to book.
Friends and families have arrived at eMpangeni Golf Club where a memorial service for Lindani Myeni will take place. Myeni was brutally killed by Honolulu policemen on 14 April 2021. The memorial service is expected to start at 10:00.
— Sakhiseni Nxumalo (@SakhiNxumalo) May 6, 2021
##LindaniMyeni @TheMercurySA pic.twitter.com/4IY9GSqbo1
KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala, KZN MEC for Art, Culture, Sports and Recreation Hlengiwe Mavimbela and other official from Umhlathuze Municipality, KZN Sports Confederation, and Scouts have arrived at the venue. pic.twitter.com/ArIT2swqMw
— Sakhiseni Nxumalo (@SakhiNxumalo) May 6, 2021
THE MERCURY