The sister of Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has died in a fire at their family home in the North West.

North West police spokesperson Col Adele Myburgh confirmed to TimesLIVE on Friday morning that the deceased was 27-year-old Meiki Khune.

“We still haven't determined the cause of the fire. Our forensic team was on site yesterday. They will inform us whether it was an electric fault or it was man-made,” Myburgh said.

She said an inquest docket has been opened. Post-mortem results are awaited.

Mapula Meiki Khune was known as a fashion blogger. She listed herself on her Instagram page as CEO of her brother's charity foundation, a marketer by profession with a business management degree. She had celebrated her birthday last month, sharing a photograph of herself with Khune.

Khune also shared photographs of them together on his Twitter account in which he declared his closeness to his sister. In one, he shared: “The love that I have for my sister is unmeasurable.”

Myburgh said neighbours alerted authorities to the fire at the family home in Ventersdorp at about 5am on Thursday.

“She was found in the room at the back of the home. It is just the room and bed that was damaged by the fire,” Myburgh said.

Kaizer Chiefs spokesperson Alpheus Vina Maphosa told TimesLIVE that Khune had asked for leave to attend to a family matter.

“Itumeleng has been granted special leave and will not feature in any of the team games this coming weekend. We have allowed him the time to be with his family. The team is giving him all the support he needs in this difficult time,” Maphosa said.

- Additional reporting by Iavan Pijoos

TimesLIVE