Johannesburg - For the first time in South Africa, there will be a national sporting Hall of Fame which will house and display the memorabilia of all South African sport heroes including Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, Senzo Meyiwa and Phindile Mwelase.
Speaking at a joint-memorial service for the three fallen sporting icons in Johannesburg, Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula said: “Next year, we are going to construct the Hall of Fame for all the sporting athletes in South Africa.
“Each athlete who performs according to their standards will be inducted in the Hall of Fame and these athletes (Meyiwa, Mulaudzi and Mwelase) will be amongst the first to be inducted in that Hall of Fame in South Africa.
“I’ve asked Deputy Minister Gert Oosthuizen to lead this important project, before the end of next year, for the first time in South Africa; we will have a national sporting Hall of Fame for everyone in the country”.
Minister Mbalula said while the three cannot be compared, they have all served the country to the best of their abilities.
Mulaudzi died in a car accident last week Friday, while boxer, Mwelase died on Saturday at Steve Biko Hospital after being in a coma for two weeks following a boxing match. Meyiwa passed away on Sunday from a gunshot, while visiting his girlfriend, singer Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
Mulaudzi will be buried on Saturday at his rural village of Muduluni Ha-Kutama, outside Makhado in Limpopo, while Meyiwa and Mwelase are expected to be buried in Ladysmith and Umlazi, Durban in Kwazulu-Natal, respectively.
Message to Meyiwa killers
“South Africa, it is our task, they can run but they cannot hide…Meyiwa killers! It is a matter of weeks, it is a matter of days, minutes and seconds before we get to you.
“If they are your friends, if they are your boyfriends, release them before we catch them. If they they are your distant relatives; advise them to come to the fore because this nation will never be at peace until we find them.
“The machinery of justice is grinding, each one of us here today has got a task… has got a responsibility…someone, somewhere, and someone, somehow, knows Senzo Meyiwa killers!
“Let’s consolidate our resources as a nation to clean our streets of criminals. Let's stop celebrating criminals. Let t a criminal be a criminal, not a role model,” he said to loud applause from South Africans at the Standard Bank Arena.
Statue for Meyiwa
After a few minutes at the podium, South African Football Association (Safa) President Danny Jordaan asked Meyiwa’s father to join him on stage. “Senzo brought a new spirit to Bafana Bafana. With Meyiwa in goals and as a team captain, South Africa has not conceded in all the 2015 Morocco qualifier matches.
“I just want to make two announcements - that we as the Safa have made a proposal to charter the Senzo Meyiwa Gun law that must take all the unlicensed and illegal firearms off the streets to be burnt into a statue of Senzo Meyiwa.
“Bring those guns, and you will determine how big the statue is and if you bring one gun, you will have a small statue, if you bring 20 000…30 000 guns, we will have a big statue.
“The statue of Senzo Meyiwa will stand in front of Safa House. When you walk to Safa House, you must walk pass his statue which will remind the youth of this country that this is the kind of leader we want for the future of this country.”
Secondly, he announced that their request to move Bafana Bafana’s qualifier match for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Morocco, against Sudan from Mbombela to Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban, has been approved by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
He said the Safa leadership decided to move the match to Durban, the hometown of Meyiwa in order to honour and pay tribute to the late Bafana goalkeeper.
“We felt as an Association it was proper and fitting that this match be played in Durban to honour our fallen hero since he hailed from this part of the world.
“The team will visit the Meyiwa family and the graveyard. This will give the team the opportunity for closure.
“We believe it will be a perfect send-off for Meyiwa after the heroics of the player helped the national team find itself in such a good position,” he said. - SAnews.gov.za
