South Africa's International Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa Shot Dead

The captain of South Africa's national soccer team was fatally shot
when armed men broke into the house where he was staying, police said.

Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was killed around 8pm Sunday after two gunmen
entered a house in Vosloorus township near Johannesburg while an
accomplice waited outside, the national police force said on its
Twitter account.

The three assailants then fled on foot, according to the police
service, which offered a reward of nearly $14,000 for information
leading to arrests in the case.

Police said there were seven people in the house during the attack,
and that the shooting followed an "altercation".

Authorities said they would do everything possible to find the killers.

South Africahas a high rate of violent crime, but it was not
immediately clear whether the house where Meyiwa was staying was
targeted by thieves or gunmen with another motive. Solomon Makgale, a
South African police spokesman, declined to comment, referring
Associated Press to updates on the police Twitter account.

Meyiwa's South African soccer club Orlando Pirates said in a statement
that it "has learned with sadness about the untimely death of our
number one goalkeeper and current captain Senzo Meyiwa".

"This is a sad loss whichever way you look at it to Senzo's family,
his extended family, Orlando Pirates and to the nation," the Pirates
chairman, Irvin Khoza, said.

Meyiwa, 27, was South Africa's captain in its four qualifiers for the
African Cup of Nations this year, including its last game, a 0-0 draw
with Republic of Congo on 15 October. He played for Orlando Pirates on
Saturday in a 4-1 win over Ajax Cape Town.

It was the second death to hit South African sports in three days, as
former 800m world champion runner Mbulaeni Mulaudzi was killed in a
car crash on Friday. At the time, the president, Jacob Zuma, said "the
nation has lost a true hero."

Early on Monday local time, the youth league of South Africa's ruling
party sent condolences to the families of Meyiwa and Mulaudzi, saying
"their premature passing is indeed a great loss to the country and
sporting nation".

Meyiwa's international team-mate Dean Furman, who plays for South
Africaand Doncaster Rovers, tweeted: "Beyond devastated at the loss of
our captain & friend Senzo Meyiwa. thoughts & prayers are with his
family & friends at this terrible time."

Darren Keet, a fellow South African goalkeeper who plays for Belgian
club KV Kortrijk and the national side, offered his deepest
condolences to Meyiwa's family and friends. He wrote: "Deeply
saddening to hear this news about our captain and friend", adding that
Meyiwa would be "missed, but never forgotten". He said Meyiwa's
killing was sad for South Africa.
--Guardian