Johannesburg - Senzo Meyiwa’s cousin says the late footballer loved Kelly Khumalo so much he had no choice but to accept her despite his father publicly rejecting the musician.
Meyiwa’s relationship with songstress Kelly Khumalo was a huge bone of contention for the family.
Meyiwa’s father, Sam, was vehemently against the relationship as his son had already traditionally tied the knot with Mandisa Mkhize. He even barred her from attending the funeral.
“Senzo was happy and very excited about his relationship with Kelly,” said Siyabonga Miya, a family spokesperson and Senzo’s cousin.
“At that time of his life, everything was happening for him, his life was really blossoming.
“Which meant she added value in Senzo’s life,” he recalled.
Miya said he had several conversations about Kelly with Meyiwa.
“Senzo told me he loves Kelly and at that point she was already pregnant, so I defended MaKhumalo because Senzo told me he loved MaKhumalo.
“When I came to Joburg we would stay at her place just to show her that there is love in the family.
“We loved Kelly like a sister, but we do not understand all the things she has been saying about the family, because there was no need to lie about us like that,” says Miya.
He did not specify what the musician said about the family.
Miya said his support of Kelly fractured his relationship with Sam Meyiwa for a while.
“We loved her and treated her like a sister, even when she was told not to come to the funeral, I told her to come to the funeral, I assured her I will protect her, but she said she was scared and that people in KwaZulu-Natal hated her and would kill her.
“Even Irvin Khoza (Orlando Pirates chairman) asked Kelly to go to the funeral, because at the end of the day, Senzo died defending Kelly,” said Miya.
He said the family tried everything, from hiring Magma (Security Investigations) to lead a private investigation and approaching AfriForum’s private prosecutions team, but the police have been unco-operative to both teams.
His traditional wife, Mandisa Mkhize, has been off the radar ever since his funeral in 2014.
“Can I not speak about her, can I only speak about Senzo and the investigation.
“For the past five or six years, we have been investigating this thing and we want justice for Senzo,” said Miya when asked about Mkhize.
Weeks before his death, Mkhize reportedly told the City Press she had resigned herself that he would leave her for Khumalo.
She reportedly moved out of their shared home.
In the meanwhile, Khumalo told the Sunday Times that Meyiwa was planning to divorce Mkhize and marry her instead.
Meyiwa was buried at the Chesterville Heroes Acre cemetery after a provincial official funeral, which was attended by over 20 000 people at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on November 1, 2014.
All PSL football matches were cancelled that weekend.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Independent quoted police sources who told them that police had made five arrests for an alleged hit on Meyiwa. It was expected that the suspects would appear in court this week.
IOL