The captain of the South African national soccer team was fatally shot at his girlfriend's house during an attempted robbery Sunday night as he tried to apprehend the intruders an eyewitness said. Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was killed around 8 p.m. after two gunmen entered a house in Vosloorus township near Johannesburg while an accomplice of theirs waited outside. The 27-year-old Meyiwa was shot in the upper body.
A friend of Meyiwa's who said he was at the house during the attempted robbery, said the goalkeeper was shot while trying to stop the intruders, who had demanded cell phones and money from people inside the home.
"As they were running away we tried to stop them and that is when they shot him at point blank range,"
The house where he was killed is said to belong to Meyiwa's girlfriend Kelly Khumalo, a South African singer and celebrity.
South Africa's police force has offered a reward of nearly $23,000 for information leading to arrests in the death of the captain of the country's most popular national sports team. Meyiwa also played for the Orlando Pirates, one of South Africa's biggest clubs. He was also recently made the South Africa captain and has led the team in four African Cup of Nations qualifiers this year. He hadn't conceded a goal in the four games.
"Most of the time, these things come when you least expect," coach Mashaba said, tears running down his cheeks. "We're going to miss Senzo a lot ... never mind his saving goals."
South Africa has a high rate of violent crime, an issue that was raised during the recent trial of Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius, who claimed he shot and killed his girlfriend by accident in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14, 2013 after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder in his home.
South African President Jacob Zuma also released a statement saying "words cannot express the nation's shock at this loss." "The law enforcement authorities must leave no stone unturned in finding his killers and bring them to justice,"
Meyiwa led the South Africa team in its last game, a 0-0 draw with Republic of Congo on Oct. 15 that kept it top of its group and on course to qualify for next year's continental championship. He played for Orlando Pirates on Saturday in a 4-1 win over Ajax Cape Town in a cup competition.
May his soul rest in peace!
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