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heeper:o MeyiwaSouthiatsid.ent,

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The murder of South Africa nationalsoccer team captain Senzo Meyiwa has

rocked the country. Thousands ofmourners, decked out in Meyiwa's team

colors, attended his funeral in earlyNovember. Meyiwa's death

is the third in a string ofsport-related tragedies as

of late, and an indicator ofthe country's increasinglysevere problem with gunviolence and crime. Law

enforcement have arrestedone man alleged to have

been involved in the robbery-turned-homicide, yet justice cannot bring back

the beloved Orlando Pirates goalkeeper.Lisette Cheresson reports.

Mourners sing as they hold a poster during the funrservice of South African national soccer team goalkand captain Senzo Meyiwa in Durban Nov, 1.

0GGGI lc0n Hlled ln G0lil ilooilhe captain ofSouth Africa na-tional soccerteam, SenzoMeyiwa, 27, wasshot in the chest

visiting his girlfriend,celebrity Kelly Khu-in a township near Jo-;burg last month.

Robbers broke into Khumalo'shouse and stole a mobilephone before they fled thescene on foot. Meyiwa's friend,Tumelo Waka Madlala, waspresent during the attack.Madlala said as he andMeyiwa were attempting tostop the assailants from run-ning away, they turned and

shot Meyiwa at "point blankrange."

"We mourn the death of thisyoung footballer and teamleader whos.e life has beentaken away at the prime of hiscareer," President Jacob Zumasaid in a tribute to the fallenstar. "Words cannot expressthe nation's shock at this loss."

Dennis Mumble, a top soc-cer official, echoed the na-tional grief when he said in astatement that, "the wholecountry is crying."

Chairman of the OrlandoPirates. Irvin Khoza. said thatthe team was devastated byMeyiwa's murder. "We had asession in the mornins at

which we were soul-ing," he said. "A lot of rand crying. It was unrlable."

Many people are r(for strength, even in tltreme grief. Nationacoach Ephraim Mwiped away tears as habout his captain at

rence, but reminded re-,rs and fans alike thatwa's presence will live one sport. "We're going toSenzo a lot ... never mindraving goals," MashabaBut "don't think such aman as Senzo can go andh. His spir i t wi l l l ive. HeLlways be the leader."t ional Pol ice Commis-r General Riah Phiyegaibed Meyiwa's death as a: case, and assured thec that the authorities1 do everything withinpower to bring the peoplensible for the crime tore. Aware of worldwidea scrutiny, Phiyega said"ihis type ofloss does notr well for our brand and: out there, so it is impor-for us to ensure that,we have those type of

:rs in our society, we asr go out there and bring; their arrest and incar-ion."yiwa's murder highlightsJe of violent crime in thery in recent years. Offi-gures show that between2013 and March 2014,

er rates increased by 5nt. Attempted murder in--'d by a.6 percenL. aggra-

robbery was up 12:7nt, and common robberylsed 0.6 percent. More17,000 people were mur-in that time period, an

ge of 47 every day. That' is seven t imes the mur-rte in the United StaLes.

of these crimes arecommitted by people

stolen guns - an averageguns are reported lost

tolen every day from I i-d owners, according togroup Gun Free SouthL. Several South AfricanIs have called for a strictun law as a tribute to theroccer star./ iwa's death is 'not theime that the sports com-;y has recently experi-

the effects of thisng violence.t month South Africanstar Oscar Pistorius waso prison for shooting hisend Reeva Steenkamphe mistook her for an in-:. While the Pistoriuslarnered enormous at-n from the global media,ra's death went largely

unnoticed by the internationalpress.

The murder

There were seven people in-side Khumalo's home at thetime of the attack. Two gun-men entered and demandedcellphones, money, and othervaluables.

Khumalo said they had beenpreparing to go out for theevening when "there was aguy who pushed the door,brandishing a gun. The other

big one followed him," shesaid. "The dreadlocked guywas in front and one wearinga hoodie was behind him."Khumalo described the sceneas frantic, as she tried to bar-ricade herself from the as-sailants in her in mother'sbedroom. She came out min-utes later when she remem-bered that her and Meyiwa'sbaby was sleeping in the otherroom.

"I realized that there werescuffles and fights all over thehouse," Khumalo said. "So I

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tried to help the people pushthese guys out of the house.Senzo and Tumelo were fight-ing the other guy that hadpointed the gun at him. Mymother and I were pushing theguy in a hoodie. The nextthing I heard two gunshots.And the third one I didn't hearand it's apparently the onethat went to Senzo."

Meyiwa was rushed to thehospital after sustaining thegunshot wound but died on ar-rival. He is survived by Khu-malo and their 1O-month-old

daughter, Thingo, ancestranged wife, lMkhize, and their chi.

In April of thiMeyiwa and Mkhize rtured on the cover rmagazine, and were qsaying that they wereon their marriagtMeyiwa had ended hwith Khumalo. Yet latyear Khumalo told theTirnes that Meyiwa wning to divorce Mkhmarry her.

"I have never been

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African Nations Cup qualifiersthis year without conceding asingle goal.

The funeral was held just, ashort distance from UmhlaziTownship, where Meyiwa wasborn.

Sam Meyiwa was overcomewith grief about his son'skiiling, telling reporters thathe was stiil trying to wrap hishead around the truth that hewas really dead. "I don't knowjf I 'm coming or going." hesaid. "My heart is broken. I'mjust finished."

Sam Meyiwa wants to seejustice served as quickly aspossible to avenge his son'smurder. "They [the police]must make sure they get thesepeople who killed my son," hetold reporters. "I want them injail. I want them in custody. Iwant to talk to them and askthem why they killed my son.It'slike they killed myself," hesalo,

Outrage

This outrage was not onlyfelt by Meyiwa's loved ones,but by the community as awhole. Fikile Mbalula, Minis-ter of Sport and Recreation,urged the police to aggres-sively pursue the case and notrest until the perpetrators hadbeen found. "Our society willnever be at peace until thesuspects have been arrestedand brought under the wrathof the country's legal system,"Mbalula said.

One suspect was arrestedand charged in connection tothe shooting the day beforeMeyiwa's funeral service. Po-lice said the suspect, 2l-year-old Zenokuhle Mbatha. wouldbe held in custody until hiscourt appearance on Novem-ber 11. Mbatha was positivelyidentified by witnesses out ofa police lineup, and is facingcharges of armed robbery aswell as murder, according toNational Prosecuting Author-ity Spokesman Nathi Mncube.

It is likely that Mbatha willnot be the only person chargedin connection with Meyiwa'sdeath. Police have said thatwhile investigations are at a"very sensitive stage," they arecontinuing to follow otherleads.

"Whilst we a1e pleased withthe progress we are making

Mandisa Mkhize, wife of South African national socaptain and goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, reactsmemorial service for her husband.

one the way Senzo loved'Khumalo told the paper.was willing to do anythingme... his heart was with

hen Khumalo calledrize to tell her that herband had been shot,rize allegedly cursed at herblamed her for Meyiwa's

'n

humalo was not permittedLttend Meyiwa's funeral,:ed by the deceased's fa-'. Sam Meyiwa. The fu-t l was held at Moses

and the overwhelming supportfrom members of the public,there is still a lot of work to bedone to finalize the investiga-tion and ensure that we canlink all suspects to the mur-der," police said.

Immediately after the inci-dent, police offered a reward ofnearly $23,000 for informationleading to the arrest and con-viction of the perpetrators.While they had at first openeda multidisciplinary investiga-tive team into the murder. no-l ice found no evidence thatMeyiwa was the target of acontract killing.

Critics of the South Africanpolice force alleged that

Meyiwa's deaththat the security 1had been achieved eof the World Cup .squandered.

Police ConrPhiyega denied thithat she "didn't bel[are] many losses orbe lamented. We'rbetter as a count:policing. We've impnificantly in many t

As to the death oCommissioner Phisured the public thlice would not leaveunturned in their pof his killers. "We arour all," she said. I

trtrPolice investigators standoutside of the house whereSouth Africa soccer captainSenzo Meyiwa was shotdead by intruders on Oct.27. Meyiwa was kil led bythe assailents when tryingto protect his girlfriend,Kelly Khumalo (above), alocal actress and singer,during a robbery at herhome near Johannesburg.

Mabhida Stadium in the In-dian Ocean city of Durban, at-tended by thousands of fanswearing red or black jerseys insolidarity. Red-eyed mournerssobbed as the hearse, carryingMeyiwa's flag-draped coffin,drove around the stadium.The mood was not entirelysomber, however. At some mo-ments fans were exuberant,blowing vuvuzela horns andsinging football chants, in thespirit of the sport to whichMeyiwa had dedicated his life.

The funeral was attendednot only by Meyiwa's familyand fans, but politicians andcelebrities as well. Rain driz-zled down on the mourners asthey watched video clips ofMeyiwa's football career.Meyiwa had captained SouthAfrica in their first four