Former teammate of Senzo, Benni McCarthy was shocked to hear of the shooting that saw Senzo Meyiwa lose his life. He tells Soccer Laduma how he heard about the incident and bids farewell to 'Saint Senzo'.

"I'm still in major shock! Oh my God... how can this have happened! A close friend of mine who is close to the chairman (Irvin Khoza) called me at about 10pm last night and told me that Senzo was dead. I was just like, oh my God. It's the hardest thing in the world to accept. I know because I lost my father, so I'm familiar with this loss of someone so close and dear to you. It's really a difficult pill to swallow and one you don't easily get over.

"I knew his wife well and his young daughter became a good friend of my daughter when I was at Pirates. I believe he has a second daughter as well now. My condolences to those in his life and especially those daughters who now have to grow up in this ugly world without a father. I'm a dad to daughters myself so I know what it's like to bring them up in this world and so my heart goes out to them. And to his family if there is anything I can do, they must just call me and if I can I will help. And the Orlando Pirates family, Yhooooo... what a loss for them. Where do you start? They have lost their 'Saint Senzo', " he said.

"I gave him the name Saint Senzo because his role model was Iker Casillas who in Spain is known as Saint Iker. But losing Senzo... I'm not sure Pirates will have another like him. He has so much personality, so much character. He was so important in that Orlando Pirates change room. If the team was down, or in a tough position, and the atmosphere was tense, Senzo was the one who would change it. Senzo could make the worst of situations seem doable. That is rare today in a soccer world where it is always about the money, always about the business, always tense with no time to smile.

"He was a leader, a true leader. Yho, I have so many stories about Senzo. Even now as I remember him all I can think about is how he would always lift us. Yho... I'm close to tears on this side so I'm not going to go on now. But my prayers are with the Orlando Pirates family who have lost a player I don't think they will ever replace, " concluded the former Bafana star.