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The consummate closer explained that he had a vision with his former rival
Kaizer Chiefs captain Itumeleng Khune has reflected on his friendship with former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa.
Khune and Meyiwa had a competitive rivalry since their days at the Chiefs academy and the Pirates academy respectively as budding goalies.
The duo went on to captaining their respective Soweto giants, with Khune receiving the skipper’s bracelet at Amakhosi in 2011, while Meyiwa captained Bucs in the absence of Lucky Lekgwathi.
Meyiwa was sadly shot and killed in Vosloorus, Gauteng, on October 6, 2014 at the age of 27 and his murder remained a mystery until five men were charged last month.
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“My friend passed away when he was at the top of his game, and what hurts me the most is that he didn’t achieve more than he deserved,” Khune said at the Meyiwa tombstone unveiling in Durban on Tuesday.
“I hope justice is served because he deserves it. Lala kahle, mngani wami [Rest in peace my friend], I still miss you and we had a vision. “
Before becoming teammates with the Bafana, Khune and Meyiwa were on the South African Under-20 and Under-23 national teams.
Khune shared his memories with Meyiwa during his time with the U23 team where they were coached by Steve Komphela.
“We had good memories with my friend. I remember we were in Botswana for the national team and because we were inseparable because of our talent, we put stress on coach Steve Komphela,” he continued.
“Coach Steve would start selecting the team from the defenders not including the goalkeepers and asked the players to vote on who should be in the starting lineup between the two of us.
“They couldn’t separate us. At some point, they expected to use us both.”
Khune also revealed that he and Meyiwa damaged his hotel room while on national service in Botswana.
“At that camp in Botswana, because we were very competitive, we were playing television games and because we didn’t want to lose we damaged our room,” he added.
“Every time he scored he would throw a chair and I would also do the same with the bed.
“When we were leaving the hotel, they called us and the coach told us to avoid that. He separated us every time he called the team.”
Khune became the first-choice goalkeeper and then captain after joining the Bafana team in 2008, while Meyiwa only made his senior team debut in 2013.
However, Meyiwa was South Africa’s first-choice goalkeeper during Bafana’s successful 2015 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying campaign and also had the opportunity to be the captain of the national team.
