Orlando Pirates captain Senzo Meyiwa
South Africa and Orlando Pirates captain Senzo Meyiwa has been killed in an armed burglary.
At 8 pm yesterday two men entered the house he was visiting in Vosloorus and following an altercation over a mobile phone, Meyiwa was shot and pronounced dead on arrival at hospital in Johannesburg.
Meyiwa led a complex private life and at the time of his death was visiting the house of actress/singer Kelly Khumalo, with whom he had fathered a child. Khumalo was arrested last year for assaulting Meyiwa's wife Mandisa, and had published a photo of herself with Meyiwa hours before the shooting.
South African police have promised to track down the killers and have offered a 150,000 ZAR (£8,500) reward.
The 27 year-old had six caps for his country and 73 appearances for Orlando Pirates, for whom he had played the day before in a 4:1 win over Ajax Cape Town.
Meyiwa was born in Durban and had captained Bafana Bafana in their four African Nations Cup qualifiers this year.
In the run-up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the press whipped up much fear of tourists being targeted, but in the end the tournament passed off peacefully.
Sadly now domestic football has fallen victim to the country's violent crime problem.
Irvin Khosa, president of the Pirates and the South African football association, tweeted,
"If something like this can happen to a national icon, then the rest of us are in deep trouble. It has to be stopped for us all."
Darren Keet, Meyiwa's goalkeeping understudy for the national team, put it simply, "When does it STOP South Africa?"
Sean O'Conor & © Soccerphile.com