A Rare Talent Who Came Through The
National Teams Ranks
Personal information
Full name: Senzo Robert Meyiwa
Date of birth: 24 September 1987
Place of birth: Durban, South Africa
Aged: 27
Height: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position: Goalkeeper
Youth Career London Cosmos (South Africa)
2002–2005: Orlando Pirates
Senior Career
2005–2014: Orlando Pirates over 150 Appearances, 0 goals
National Team 2013–2014 South Africa 7 Appearances, 0 goals
At the time of his death, Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper
Senzo Meyiwa was well on his way to achieving greatness. Senzo Meyiwa, who was
tragically shot dead on Sunday evening, began his football career as a striker
for hometown club London Cosmos in Umlazi, Durban in the 1990s. He soon
converted to the goalkeeper position and went on to represent KwaZulu-Natal in
the Transnet Under-14 and Coca-Cola Under-17 Inter-Provincial tournaments in
2000 as a 13-year-old. His performances caught the eye of Orlando Pirates
scouts, who brought him to the club’s development programme.
Born in Umlazi, Durban 27 years ago, he began his career with London Cosmos
before joining Pirates’ juniors. From there on his career progressed as he went
on to play for the national Under-17s and Under-20s. And while it was his good
friend at Kaizer Chiefs, Itumeleng Khune, who first made a name for himself in
the PSL, it was Meyiwa who was the first-choice for the national Under-23s.
After making impressive progress through the youth levels, Meyiwa made his
official debut for Orlando Pirates in a 2-1 win over AmaZulu on November 8,
2006. At club level his career was not picking up as fast as he would have
hoped. Despite making 25 appearances during the 2007/08 season, Meyiwa was back
to being an understudy during the 2008/09 campaign as Moneeb Josephs arrived
from Bidvest Wits. He was an important part of the Pirates squad that won a
famous ‘Double Treble’ in 2010/11 and 2011/12, claiming two MTN8 titles, two
Absa Premiership titles, the Telkom Knockout and Nedbank Cup. However, Josephs
kept the number one jersey, but when he suffered a long injury lay-off during the
2012/13 season, then Pirates coach Roger de Sa gave Meyiwa a chance – and stuck
with him even when Josephs was available again. The move paid dividends as
Meyiwa’s performance in 2012 helped Pirates reach the CAF Champions League
Final, with his most memorable performance coming against TP Mazembe in the
semi-finals, where he overcame a hostile crowd and terrible refereeing. He also
made his Bafana Bafana debut, coming on as a substitute for Wayne Sandilands at
half-time of a 2-0 friendly win over Lesotho in Maseru on June 2, 2013.
Meyiwa picked up from where he left off in 2013/14, going on
to play a record 51 matches and continued his rise to prominence, helping
Orlando Pirates win the 2014 Nedbank Cup. So when Shakes Mashaba took over as
the Bafana Bafana coach, he put faith in the Pirates man following first-choice
Khune’s injury, even giving him the captain’s armband. Meyiwa did not
disappoint. He played in all the 2015 African Nations Cup qualifiers – against
Sudan, Nigeria and twice against Congo; keeping a clean-sheet in all four
matches as South Africa claimed top spot on the standings after four matches
and put themselves within touching distance of qualification for the 2015
AFCON. Meyiwa’s last professional appearance was on Saturday, October 25 at
Orlando Stadium as he helped the Buccaneers to a 4-1 victory over Ajax Cape
Town in a Telkom Knockout quarter-final. As a mark of respect, the Soweto derby
match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates due to be played on 1 November
2014 was postponed. He was aged 27 years and 32 days upon his death on October
26 in Vosloorus.
Meyiwa’s career
honours: Full Bafana Bafana international (7 caps), Under-23, Under-20,
Under-17 international; 2011, 2012 PSL winner; 2011, 2014 Nedbank Cup winner;
2011 Telkom Knockout winner; 2010, 2011 MTN 8 winner