Mandisa Meyiwa is a South African woman best known as the wife of Senzo Meyiwa, the late Orlando Pirates & Bafana Bafana goalie.
South African goalie Senzo Meyiwa was killed in 2014 in what was suspected to be a robbery case. Since then, his wife, Mandisa Meyiwa, has kept making it in and out of the news for a whole number of reasons, from speaking about the tragic events preceding the loss of her husband, to the betrayal she suffered, her narration in the book published about her husband by Soweto Mandlanzi- Decoding 666_9: The Inexplicable Life Of Senzo Meyiwa, and much more.
Mandisa, also a South African, was married to the Orlando Pirates and the South African national team goalkeeper and captain for barely a few years before troubles overwhelmed their home with accusations of cheating against Senzo. Before the marriage approached its end and the subsequent death of the star goalie, the two were blessed with a daughter.
Summary of Mandisa Meyiwa’s Biography
- Full name: Mandisa Mkhize
- Gender: Female
- Date of birth: September 1986
- Mandisa Meyiwa’s Age: 37 Years Old
- Ethnicity: Black
- Nationality: South Africa
- Zodiac Sign: Virgo
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Marital Status: Divorced
- Mandisa Meyiwa’s Ex-Husband: Senzo Meyiwa (Deceased)
- Mandisa Meyiwa’s Children: Namhla Meyiwa (daughter)
- Education: Durban Institute of Technology, Ridge Park College, and Bophelo Impilo Private School
- Famous for: The former wife of Senzo Meyiwa
- Mandisa Meyiwa’s Instagram: mandisamkhize01
A Closer Look Into The Life Of Mandisa Meyiwa
The wife of the late Pirates goalkeeper was born Mandisa Mkhize in September 1986, in South Africa. Although the actual day of her birth has not been revealed, it is known that she was raised in South Africa.
She got her education from Bophelo Impilo Private School in Johannesburg, and after she graduated, Mandisa moved on to Ridge Park College. Next, she went to the Durban Institute of Technology from where she got a Human Resource Diploma and then a degree in Business Administration in 2008.
The beautiful Mandisa started her career life since she was still studying with Nedbank as a call agent from 2006 to 2009 when she was made a Human Resource Officer.
Mandisa Meyiwa Started Dating Senzo Before He Became Famous
When Senzo and Mandisa Mkhize first met in 2005, he was still a young man who was trying to find his way around. How they met in Johannesburg is not known, but they remained together until 2011 when they finally got married. Their union was only traditionally done, without taking it further.
Although at first, it seems like everything was great with their marriage, Mandisa soon found out not too long into their marriage that Senzo Meyiwa was cheating on her with another woman who happened to be singer Kelly Khumalo. She would later reveal that she held nothing against the singer because she believed Kelly truly loved the late goalie.
The marriage produced a daughter, Namhla Meyiwa, better known as Nana. She was 6 when her father died in 2014. Before the union, Senzo was said to have had another child from a previous relationship that was known to the family, and then he also had a child with Khumalo.
Her Marriage Was At The Verge Of Collapse Before Senzo Was Murdered
When Mandisa found out that her husband was cheating on her, it left her distraught, even though she had already known that he was a Cassanova, who was always cheating on her. It was revealed that he once went as far as sleeping with her best friend. This betrayal almost forced her to commit suicide.
She was altered by a friend that her husband was having an affair with Pop singer Kelly Khumalo who plastered their pictures together on her Instagram page. The singer claimed she didn’t know the footballer was married until five months after they started dating. Senzo also admitted he never told her he was a married man.
Mandisa left her matrimonial home following the incident, and from then on, her husband spent most of his time with his newfound love. In defense of Khumalo, Senzo made it clear that she was not behind the failure of his marriage as he lied to both her and his wife. There were rumors that Kelly was already pregnant for him at the time, but he denied the claims, even though she would later give birth to his third child.
Exactly a year after this, on 26, October 2014, Mewiya was shot dead in what many was initially believed to be an apparent robbery in the house of Kelly’s parents in Vosloorus. According to his wife, the former Bafana Bafana captain was warned of the dark cloud hovering around Khumalo by his close friend, Mthoko Twala, as well as a traditional healer who advised him against having anything to do with the singer.
Senzo was shot at the back by previously unidentified individuals. In 2020, it was announced that a gang of five men was arrested in connection with the murder. The members of the gang revealed that they were hired to kill the footballer. Initial investigations pointed out that not all those present at the time of the alleged premeditated murder were telling the truth.
Those in the house were the late footballer, his girlfriend Kelly, Zandi Khumalo (Kelly’s sister), their mother Ntombi, Longwe Twala who allegedly shot him, and Meyiwa’s friend Mthokozisi Thwala. Others were Tumelo Madlala (Zandi’s boyfriend), and Kelly’s son Christian who was 4 years old, and Thingo, Kelly’s daughter with Senzo.
At first, fingers pointed at Khumalo over the murder, but she continued to deny any form of involvement. With more plots unfolding, there are indications that she might be arrested for being involved in the tragic event as it was claimed that she has been implicated in the crime.
Senzo’s Messy Love Life Did Not Make Things Any Easier For Mandisa After His Death
The unfortunate death of Senzo came at a time when his love life was still not straightforward as he was still with his wife, even though separated and still in the process of getting a divorce, on one hand, and on the other, he was still not married to Kelly Khumalo, but she had already had a child for him. More so, as stated, he had already had a son even before getting married.
The messy nature of things meant that for his life insurance policy, no one came forward to take the place of a wife as he was only traditionally married to Mkhize. The R4 million policy was supposed to be shared between Orlando Pirates, his wife, and kids with Pirates, who paid for the policy taking 50% while the remaining goes to the former.
Neither Mkhize nor Khumalo was recognized as the legal wife of the late player. While the policy went to the club and his three kids, there was still confusion as regards his estate with his father, Sam Meyiwa jumping in to take charge as the guardian since he left behind no will.
Mandisa Meyiwa’s Love Life Has Had Its Fair Share Of Controversy
As regards her love life, she got the green light from Senzo’s family a couple of years after his death to start dating. However, she is still yet to be publicly linked to anyone. Few weeks before she lost her husband, a 20-year-old woman, whose name was given as Neo, claimed that Mandisa was cheating with her sugar daddy, who was married. The young woman claimed that she was left heartbroken after the man told her he was also having an affair with Mkhize because she believed she was the only woman in his life after his wife.
When asked about the alleged affair, Mandisa claimed that she knew the man in question, but it was not the way the woman had claimed. She added that if she was having an affair with the businessman, it was none of Neo’s business. On his part, the alleged sugar daddy claimed that he had a business relationship with Mandisa, and he was not willing to discuss any part of that when he was contacted.
The report came as a shock to many who had always believed that she was the one that was wronged in her relationship with Senzo, even though nothing to the claim was proven to be true.
She Has Since Picked Up The Pieces And Moved On
From a troubled marriage to the unfortunate death of her husband, Mandisa passed through so much in 2014, too much for so many to be able to get the pieces together and move on. Although she has maintained a private life, Mandisa maintains a happy and positive disposition based on her pictures on social media. She continues to raise her daughter as a single mother.
She has had to battle a lot from the media with the continuous prying into her life and that of her daughter since she lost her husband, but all those have not dimmed her shine. More so, she continues to maintain a very good relationship with the family of her late husband.
Mandisa continued to get the support of Meyiwa’s family, most especially his father, Sam Meyiwa until he died in 2019. Sam was outrightly against Kelly from the start, and after his son died, he barred her from attending the funeral.