South Africa's national football team captain Senzo Meyiwa was shot dead in a botched robbery recently. His death sparked an outpouring of grief in a crime-ridden nation.

Sibusiso Vilakazi said the robbers held up his family at gunpoint at his parents' house in Soweto township and stole an array of valuables.

South African football captain Senzo Meyiwa, who had just turned 27, was gunned down by an intruder while visiting his pop star girlfriend south-east of Johannesburg, in a crime that shocked the nation.

The police have charged Zanokuhle Mbatha with murder in connection with the case. He was arrested after witnesses picked him out in an identity parade.

Two men were reportedly held for questioning in connection with the murder of South Africa football captain Senzo Meyiwa.

Two men were being held for questioning after they were arrested in Nongoma, in the eastern KwaZulu Natal province.

Senzo Meyiwa was fatally shot by armed gunmen who had had an altercation with the South Africa footballer before firing upon him.

Senzo Meyiwa was South Africa's national goalkeeper. Even though South Africa's murder rate has been gradually dropping, it remains one of the world's most violent countries, with police recording more than 17,000 murders last year, or 31 per 100,000 people - seven times the rate in the United States.

Senzo Meyiwa, South Africa's football captain, was killed late Sunday at the home of his pop-star girlfriend Kelly Khumalo after an altercation, in a slaying that stunned the crime-weary nation.

Senzo Meyiwa died on Sunday after suffering a single shot through the chest at the home of girlfriend Kelly Khumalo, a local actress and singer, in the township of Vosloorus.