FALLEN HEROES REMEMBERED

Sports stars and fans gathered in Johannesburg yesterday to pay tribute to the athletes.  Mbulaeni 'Silver Bullet' Mulauzi, Phindile Mwelase 'Zulu Girl' and Senzo Meyiwa's joint memorial service was held at the Standard Bank Arena in Johannesburg.

Framed pictures of Meyiwa, Mwalase and Mulaudzi

The sports heroes and heroine died in different circumstance this past weekend, and the dates were like orchestrated,  Mulaudzi died in a car accident on Friday 24 on his way to the Athletes meeting in Mpumalanga.  Female professional boxer Phindile Mwelase died on Saturday 25 after been in coma over a week in Kalafong hospital, Pretoria.  Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa died on Sunday 27 after been shot by intruders in Vosloorus, Johannesburg.

The three athletes memorial service brought supporters, families and colleagues into tears.  Their lives were celebrated and rejoiced; speaker after speaker's words of wisdom entail to describe the unique character of each athlete.  Hailed and embraced, Bafana-Bafana coach Ephraim Mashaba's words of comfort came from the bible verse of Isaiah 41 verse 10.  ''When I die one day, you are all invited'', said Boks captain Jean De Villiers.  I would like to say to the families of the 3 fallen heroes... may God bless you; may their soul rest in peace', added De Villiers expressed words of condolence to the families.

''Senzo the gentleman, polite, patient, humble and resilient'', says Frank Chakane Orlando Pirates representative.  Whereas SAFA{South African Football Association} urges South Africans to hand in their guns which will be melted to build Meyiwa's statue.  President Danny Jordaan appealed to the nation to hand their guns at SAFA house, furthermore details will be announce next week Tuesday.

Phidile's death came as a shock to the boxing federation.  Started her career in boxing after living the construction job.  She was described as passionate, hard worker and dedicated person.  They appealed to the Sports and Recreation minister to dwell more into boxing, assist with media platforms and to cater women in boxing.  'Not much is said about women boxing in South Africa', said the boxing representative.  Athlete Mulaudzi a runner, who won the Gold medal and became the first South African to be ranked number 1 in the world, won 800m silver medal in 2009.

Today, memorial services continues in separates venues for the Mulauzi and Meyiwas.  The Mulaudzi's service is held in his home town Limpompo and Meyiwa in Durban.  The Funeral service will be tomorrow in Durban(Mwalase and Meyiwa) and Mulaudzi in Venda.

Nelly Portia