Troubled Mamelodi Sundowns Player Khayelihle Shozi Admitted to Psychiatric Facility After Going Missing Twice

Troubled Mamelodi Sundowns Player Khayelihle Shozi Admitted to Psychiatric Facility After Going Missing Twice

Keba Mothoagae
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:54 PM
  • Struggling JDR Stars footballer Khayelihle Shozi is finally receiving help as he deals with mental health issues
  • The former Mamelodi Sundowns had been missing since October last year, the second such time he had been lost
  • He was booked into a psychiatric hospital, with a family spokesperson saying that he would be placed in their care after his assessment

Help has come at last for the unfortunate JDR Stars player Khayelihle Shozi.

Shozi was found a few days ago after having been missing since October last year. This was the second time he had been unaccounted for, with his struggles being attributed to mental illness.

khayelihle shozi, missing, mamelodi sundowns, jdr stars, ts galaxy, rhulani mokwena missing, mental health, mental illness, psychiatric hospital
Khayelihle Shozi during his time at Mamelodi Sundowns. Image source: @Sundowns_TVNews/Twitter
Source: Twitter

KickOff reported that since being found, he had been place in an unnamed psychiatric hospital in Johannesburg. The Citizen also reported that his former club, Mamelodi Sundowns, has also committed itself to intervening in Shozi's struggles.

Family spokesperson Simphiwe Shozi said that he would be moved to KwaZulu-Natal after being assessed and cleared to be in their care.

"We are hurt and saddened as a family with all the activities that happened around my brother. It’s very painful. Our focus at the moment is to help Khaya get out of this situation and condition that he is currently in. The rest we will deal with it at a later stage.
"The two doctors have discovered a few things related to his mental condition. This gives us hope that he will recover very soon. We also planning to go home very soon to perform some rituals related to his condition."

Shozi also thanked South Africans for the support they'd given to Khayelihle and the family, saying:

"I want to thank the South Africans and the football fraternity for the support. I also want to thank coach Rulani Mokwena, the people at Mamelodi Sundowns and even the security officers, players, the fans and everyone for the support and for being with us during this difficult period.”

For anyone who might be suffering from the effects of mental illness, or is aware of anyone else struggling, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group can be contacted on +27 (0)80 056 7567 or +27 (0)11 234 4837.

Itumeleng Khune talks about his Kaizer Chiefs future, only plans to retire when Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon does

In much brighter local football news, the great Itumeleng Khune has no plans to hang up his boots despite going through a significant career slump.

As reported in Sports Brief, Itu recently spoke about his future and game time and added that he still had another 10 years in him and would retire once Italy's Gianluigi Buffon did.

Khune hasn't featured for the Amakhosi since August 2021 and fans are clamouring for him to return to the Kaizer Chiefs first-team squad.

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Keba Mothoagae
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