Senzo’s secret love child
Soccer boss pours his heart out
SLAIN soccer hero Senzo Meyiwa fathered a secret love child.
The player’s family discovered the baby boy’s existence only after his father’s brutal death in an apparent botched robbery.
The family of the Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana captain, given a hero’s funeral last Saturday in Durban, knew he already had three other children with three different women.
The shocked Meyiwas confirmed yesterday that they met the baby boy and his mother shortly after the soccer star’s funeral, and had accepted responsibility for the child.
The baby, who the family said was a few months old, was born shortly after the birth of Senzo’s daughter Thingo by singer Kelly Khumalo.
According to family spokesman Siyabonga Meyiwa, the infant was brought to their home in K-section in Umlazi, near Durban.
Senzo’s wife, Mandisa Mkhize, who has a daughter with the late star, was present. Senzo has another daughter from a previous relationship.
A source said the baby boy “looks three months old. I do not know his name but he is a beautiful baby who looks like Senzo.”
Senzo’s father Sam, speaking through Siyabonga Meyiwa, said yesterday: “We confirm that the baby was brought home and was acknowledged by the Meyiwas.
“The baby was brought to the family after Senzo’s funeral.
“We saw him, we are going to do what is necessary in order to ensure that he is also taken care of as a Meyiwa.
“Going forward, we are handling the situation according to our Zulu culture.”
The family asked that their privacy be respected, saying: “We are still looking forward to an official opportunity to thank the South African and KwaZulu-Natal governments, Orlando Pirates chairman Irvin Khoza, the South African public and the whole soccer fraternity.”
Khoza met Siyabonga Meyiwa earlier this week in Johannesburg to discuss details of his former player’s finances and to “establish whether Senzo had a will, determine the status of his relationships to his wife Mandisa and girlfriend Kelly or whether he died intestate and to confirm the number of Senzo’s children”.
Said Khoza: “It is not a secret that wherever the players play, be it Bloemfontein or Durban, they have a girlfriend for every away match. But that does not define Senzo. We must find solace in that he catered for his children.
“It is not for me to usurp the power of God to be a judge. There’s an Israeli saying that for every house there is a toilet. All of us are not perfect,” said Khoza.
“Let us allow Mandisa and Kelly to grieve and have closure. Nothing should overshadow the achievement of Senzo. He is the main actor. He has earned his spot on the stage. Let him be
ORLANDO Pirates boss Irvin Khoza spoke tearfully this week about his sense of loss after the killing of Senzo Meyiwa, Bafana Bafana and Pirates captain.
In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Times, an emotionally drained Khoza, who has a reputation as the strongman of South African soccer, poured his heart out, saying Meyiwa’s killing “shattered my soul and left me feeling empty”.
“I lost loyalty. You can’t buy it anywhere. I’m feeling empty. People like Senzo, I don’t have too many of them in the safety deposit box. He never, not once, let me down,” said Khoza.
“I lost my daughter Zodwa at age 30. For him to die so young, at 27, is sad.
“Last season was the best of his football career. Just when his career was taking off, he died at the height of his achievement.
“God wanted him to get a standing ovation. For someone who came to Pirates aged 13, he gave his best, always pushing, and never tired of swimming against the stream.
“For the KwaZulu-Natal government to give him a provincial state funeral was a message that somebody, somewhere, is recognising you.
“The people of South Africa wrote Senzo’s epitaph. They said: ‘Here lies a man who gave his life to his club and country.’
“At the Pirates end of season awards, I asked Senzo to go on stage and dance. Boy, did he dance. Little did I know that that was his last dance.”
Khoza said he was comforted by the fact that he didn’t “take back home an alcoholic or a drug addict” when he returned Meyiwa to his parents for the burial last week.
“I took home a boy that was at the height of his achievement. That was the closure for me.
“What we hoped to achievewhen we got him at 13 — we did our best and he did his best and never allowed himself to be swept away by the stream. This was his history. It
People like Senzo, I don’t have too many of them in the safety deposit box
was his story.”
Moral judgments had been made regarding Meyiwa’s lifestyle, with many questioning why he had a girlfriend while being married to Mandisa Mkhize.
Khoza said: “It is not a secret that wherever the players play, be it Bloemfontein or Durban, they have a girlfriend for every away match. But that does not define Senzo. We must find solace in that he catered for and loved all his children.
“It is not for me to usurp the power of God to be a judge. There’s an Israeli saying that for every house there is a toilet. All of us are not perfect,” said Khoza.
“Nothing should overshadow the achievements of Senzo. He is the main actor. He has earned his spot
‘STANDING OVATION’: Orlando Pirates boss Irvin Khoza says a final farewell to Senzo Meyiwa
PRODIGY: Senzo Meyiwa on the stage. Let him be there alone and enjoy it, even in death.”
A week after Meyiwa’s death, criminals broke into the Soweto home of another Bafana Bafana player, Sibusiso Vilakazi.
“If we don’t stop crime, crime will stop us,” Khoza said. “We are morally bankrupt. If we don’t stand up against it, it means we are silent participants. We can’t say that after we took over, the country became a mess because of criminals. They are spoiling the legacy of this country . . . people died to give us this dispensation.”
Regarding scepticism about Meyiwa’s official funeral, Khoza said: “Pirates played their part and the state played its part in the payment. Senzo deserved it.”
Khoza, who is also the chairman of the Premier Soccer League, advised players to handle their finances with care.
“At Pirates it is something we do with our sponsor Standard Bank. The biggest thing that we must deal with is the subculture of conspicuous consumption — the issue of cars is not the ultimate investment. Investment, to me, is anything that generates cash flow.
“Again, you must also be careful not to be seen to be micromanaging people to a point of trying to tell them how they must go out with their girlfriends.”