Solly Tyibilika

Solomzi "Solly" Tyibilika (23 June 1979 – 13 November 2011) was a South African rugby union footballer, who played as a flanker for the Lions in the international Super 14 competition in his last years. He was the first black person to score a test try for the South Africa national rugby union team. and educated at the Loyiso High School. While at high school he started playing rugby union, making his professional debut in 2001 with Griquas. Witnesses reported Tyibilika had his back turned to the entrance and was on his telephone when two gunmen fired ten rounds in the door. Tyibilika was found to be lying lifeless in his own blood on the floor after the incident.

Mr Oregan Hoskins, president of SARU, said, "Solly was a trailblazer among black African Springboks. To lose him so suddenly and in this brutal manner is very distressing. The casual disregard for life in our society is shocking." Hoskins also said, "His emergence was a demonstration of what can be achieved when talent is combined with opportunity in what is always a very competitive position in Springbok rugby". There were pleas for donations for a burial, with his last club Hamiltons offering to help his family. Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula told Parliament two days after the murder that Tyibilika had done his country proud.