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What pains me the most about ex-Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Meyiwa - Kaizer Chiefs captain Khune
The accomplished shot-stopper 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 in the Chiefs academy and Pirates academy respectively as budding keepers.
The duo went on to captain their respective Soweto giants with Khune having been handed the skipper's armband at Amakhosi in 2011, while Meyiwa captained Bucs in the absence of Lucky Lekgwathi.
Meyiwa was sadly shot and killed in Vosloorus, Gauteng on 6 October 2014 at the age of 27 and his murder became a mystery until five men were charged last month.
"My friend passed away when he was on top of his game, and what pains me the most is he didn't achieve more than what he deserved," Khune said at Meyiwa's tombstone unveiling in Durban on Tuesday.
"I hope justice will be served because he deserves that. Lala kahle, mngani wami [Rest in peace my friend], I still miss you and we had a vision."
Before becoming Bafana teammates, Khune and Meyiwa were part of the South Africa under-20 and under-23 national teams.
Khune shared his memories with Meyiwa during their time together with the under-23 team where they were coached by Steve Komphela.
"We had some 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 gave coach Steve Komphela stress," he continued.
"Coach Steve would start selecting the team from defenders without including keepers and asked players to vote on who should be in the starting line-up between the two of us.
"They couldn't separate us. At some point, they were hoping to use us both."
Khune also revealed that he and Meyiwa damaged their hotel room while on national duty in Botswana.
"In that Botswana camp, as we were very competitive, we were playing TV games and because we didn't want to lose we damaged our room," he added.
"Every time I scored he would throw a chair and I would also do the same with the bed.
"When we were leaving the hotel, we were called upon and the coach told us to avoid such. He would separate us whenever he called up the team."
Khune became the first-choice keeper and later captain after breaking into the Bafana squad in 2008, while Meyiwa only made his senior national team debut in 2013.
However, Meyiwa was South Africa's first-choice keeper during Bafana's successful 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying campaign and also got a chance to captain the national team.
