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Family to dig Meyiwa's grave

by NGWAKO MALATJI and NONKULULEKO KHUMALO
23 Nov 2014 at 08:08hrs | Views
THE family of slain Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalie Senzo Meyiwa wants to dig up his grave to reunite him with his twin brother Siya.

THE family of slain Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalie Senzo Meyiwa wants to dig up his grave to reunite him with his twin brother Siya.

Siya tragically drowned when in Grade 2 while the boys were swimming at Isipingo beach with their father, Sam Meyiwa, and a friend. Senzo was rescued but help came too late for Siya.

Sunday World can exclusively reveal that Siya's remains will be exhumed from Madlakeni Cemetery and interred in the same grave with Senzo at Heroes Acre in Chesterville, KwaZulu-Natal.

According to Zulu tradition, twins must be buried next to each other but, because the former Bafana Bafana captain was buried at Heroes Acre, this was not possible.

A close friend of the Meyiwas, who did not want to be named, said the family was in talks with government.

"The family held a meeting where it was discussed that two people who were born at the same time cannot sleep in two separate places. They have to be laid to rest together," said the family friend.

She said the family sees it fit for them to be laid in the same grave as Siya cannot get his own grave at Heroes Acre which is reserved for local heroes.

A senior KZN government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed that a request was made by the family.

"The matter is now being discussed within government but I don't think a decision will be made soon. Things like this normally take months because of its legal nature. All due process has to be followed."

Paternity test

Senzo's father Sam Meyiwa refused to comment and surprisingly referred Sunday World to Senzo's girlfriend Kelly Khumalo.

"I know all the questions you want to ask have to do with her, so just phone her and stop calling me," he said before hanging up the phone.

We can also reveal that the Meyiwas are demanding paternity tests be conducted to establish if Senzo was the father of the child a Pretoria woman claimed was his.

"They are now going to use Senzo's younger brother Sifiso to do the DNA tests," said the family friend.

Meanwhile, hardly a month since her boyfriend's death, Khumalo shocked everyone when she made an appearance at the annual Feather Awards in Sandton on Wednesday.

Khumalo told the media that she was not the first person to be hated based on assumptions and she wouldn't be the last.

Meyiwa was gunned down at Khumalo's mother's house in Vosloorus, east of Joburg, on October 26.

A separate Sunday World investigation has revealed that, at the time of his death, the 27-year-old goalkeeper had no property registered in his name, but his family claims that he and his wife, Mandisa Mkhize, were in the process of building a house in Adams Mission in Durban.

Source - Sunday World
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