News aside, Senzo’s missed

UR country is truly in mourning this week after the deaths of three of our sports stars. We add our voices to the many millions who have directed their prayers and comforting wishes to the families of Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa, light-middleweight boxer Phindile Mwelase and former world 800m champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi.

All three died violently – Meyiwa in what appears to have been a botched armed robbery, Mwelase at the end of the fist of a fellow boxer while both were pursuing their sport, and Mulaudzi in a head-on car crash.

In particular, it was the shocking death of Meyiwa that held the country’s attention all week. Nothing else mattered on news agendas, and everybody – from middle-class white people, many of whom had probably never heard of him or his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo, to peasant farmers in Limpopo – has been talking about it as if Meyiwa were a member of their family.

So while we honour Mwelase, who bravely improved herself and her prospects for life in a male-dominated sport, and Mulaudzi, who had brought prestige to South Africa, it is Meyiwa who has had the greatest attention.

That’s not surprising, and it’s not only to do with his status as national football captain and Orlando Pirates superstar. Meyiwa’s complicated personal life, particularly his relationship as a married man with starlet Khumalo, is what will take the story forward.

His prowess as a sportsman will, no doubt, quickly start to lose its prominence as the news angles grow around his mistress, his widow and their respective, warring families. And what a pity that is.

Let us rather, for now, try and remember a man who excelled on the field and who set an example for so many youngsters dreaming of success. He’ll be missed.

O