Slain Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain Senzo Meyiwa’s father has defended his now infamous “crowd wave” picture at his son’s funeral at the weekend.
The picture of Sam Meyiwa protruding out of the passenger window – with his arms outstretched – of the hearse carrying Senzo’s body made headlines and spurred creative South Africans to mimic his pose, many in the most bizarre and hilarious circumstances, on social media.
While some found the initial incident funny, others were more critical of Meyiwa senior, calling his actions “unAfrican” and “attention-seeking”.
The criticism was that Meyiwa’s actions did not resemble those of a father in mourning.
But yesterday he scoffed at the criticism, saying his actions were misinterpreted.
“People can say and do whatever they want or like. What I was doing was to show my appreciation for the support shown by people to Senzo,” said Meyiwa, from his home in K-Section, Umlazi, south of Durban.
When visited at the Meyiwa home, Sam was revving the engine of one of Senzo’s cars – a red Golf 5 GTI, with the personalised number-plate “Nzori GP”. Nzori was Senzo’s nickname.
But Meyiwa did not want to discuss “other matters” relating to his late son, saying that he had been advised by “politicians” not to talk to the media.
“I have been advised by government officials not to speak to the media at the moment. Senzo’s death is still fresh in my memory,” he said.
He said he was surprised his picture had gone viral and inspired the #NotSenzosDad hashtag on photo-sharing social network site Instagram and other sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The picture was published on the Sunday Times’s front page last weekend. From celebrities to social network users, they joined the craze. By yesterday afternoon, at least 2930 pictures were posted under the #NotSenzosDad hashtag.
Some of the images included a baby hanging out of a pram and four men with outstretched arms coming out of the side of a taxi.
Hip Hop star HHP and radio DJ Fistaz Mixwell were among those who jumped onto the #NotSenzosDad bandwagon.
The Pirates goalkeeper tragically died aged 27 when he was killed during a suspected botched robbery at his girlfriend, pop singer Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
Senzo’s dad defends his ‘crowd wave’
The picture of Sam Meyiwa protruding out of the passenger window – with his arms outstretched – of the hearse carrying Senzo’s body made headlines and spurred creative South Africans to mimic his pose, many in the most bizarre and hilarious circumstances, on social media.
While some found the initial incident funny, others were more critical of Meyiwa senior, calling his actions “unAfrican” and “attention-seeking”.
The criticism was that Meyiwa’s actions did not resemble those of a father in mourning.
But yesterday he scoffed at the criticism, saying his actions were misinterpreted.
“People can say and do whatever they want or like. What I was doing was to show my appreciation for the support shown by people to Senzo,” said Meyiwa, from his home in K-Section, Umlazi, south of Durban.
When visited at the Meyiwa home, Sam was revving the engine of one of Senzo’s cars – a red Golf 5 GTI, with the personalised number-plate “Nzori GP”. Nzori was Senzo’s nickname.
But Meyiwa did not want to discuss “other matters” relating to his late son, saying that he had been advised by “politicians” not to talk to the media.
“I have been advised by government officials not to speak to the media at the moment. Senzo’s death is still fresh in my memory,” he said.
He said he was surprised his picture had gone viral and inspired the #NotSenzosDad hashtag on photo-sharing social network site Instagram and other sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The picture was published on the Sunday Times’s front page last weekend. From celebrities to social network users, they joined the craze. By yesterday afternoon, at least 2930 pictures were posted under the #NotSenzosDad hashtag.
Some of the images included a baby hanging out of a pram and four men with outstretched arms coming out of the side of a taxi.
Hip Hop star HHP and radio DJ Fistaz Mixwell were among those who jumped onto the #NotSenzosDad bandwagon.
The Pirates goalkeeper tragically died aged 27 when he was killed during a suspected botched robbery at his girlfriend, pop singer Kelly Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
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