Jacques van der Westhuyzen

By Jacques van der Westhuyzen

Head of Sport


Police, PI called in to help find young rugby player Muzi

The former SA Schools player has not had any contact with family and has been missing for some time now.


The parents of the young rugby player Muzi Manyike, who has not been in contact with his family for weeks now, have apparently asked the police for assistance in trying to locate their son.

They have also called in a private investigator to help search for the former Jeppe pupil and SA Schools player.

While 20-year-old Manyike is said to be “missing”, individuals close to the rugby player who The Citizen spoke to on Tuesday confirmed that he was more likely not wanting to be found.

“It’s not as if he was abducted, or something like that,” said someone close to the situation.

Manyike was last seen on CCTV footage climbing out of a car in Pretoria and leaving the keys behind. That was last Wednesday. He, however, went missing some time ago.

It seems no one knows where to start looking for the former junior Lions player, who recently accepted an invitation to join the SA Sevens academy in the Cape.

“This has nothing to do with work or his family; it’s s personal thing,” the person close to the situation told The Citizen.

Manyike’s agent, Kobus Porter, confirmed the family had been in contact with the police and a private investigator and said several people were doing everything they could to try and locate the young man.

Bart Schoeman, an agent and the former high performance manager at the Lions, said on Tuesday that he was concerned that many young players in today’s times were unable to deal with the pressure of expectation placed on their young shoulders.

He wasn’t, however, prepared to speculate on why Manyike had failed to get in touch with anyone close to him.

Schoeman tweeted a picture of Manyike on Monday and said, “Anyone with information on this young man please contact the authorities.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.