Why did roebuck kill himself

They were often brutal in their direct confrontation of the issues facing the sport. Roebuck owed allegiance to no-one and wrote fearlessly about whatever aggrieved him, with no thought to ego, feelings or consequences—including his own. He drew the ire of cricket fans in his adopted home when—after an acrimonious and controversial Sydney test—he accused the Australian team of being bad sports in their victory over India. But even the harshest criticism and sharpest words were compelling reading as he delivered the message with such poetry.

Cricket , in its pure international form, is a game that lasts for five days. It is something almost incomprehensible to those not indoctrinated into ways and enraptured by its charms. He was a spokesman for the punters in the stands, those who paid at the gate to share in the game, the most important part of the game and often the first cast aside by the decision makers. Just for a day, Dalmiya and his merry men should be made to swap places, toilets and refreshments with those they are supposed to be serving, those who ultimately pay the bills.

Sometimes, he held a mirror up to society itself. By then, Frith had decided a fresh interpretation was necessary. Mike Brearley was asked to write the foreword for the new version of the book which was renamed Silence of the Heart. One of the reasons why the foreword was rewritten was the distance that had grown between Frith and Roebuck, mainly due to the rivalry of the respective magazines they edited the Wisden Cricket Monthly and The Cricketer.

As one reads the words, the striking similarities to the circumstances behind Roebuck s own suicide seem chilling. And finally, a section towards the end of the foreword echoes with the ironies that meet at the fissure of life and death. Once written it was no longer true about my life Since It Never Rains some people have predicted a gloomy end for this write. One former colleague said so to my face in September It will not be so.

But Captain Psychology was treated differently, only ever receiving three strokes at a time, with his trousers on. You are my number one, I started with you,'" says Maziwisa. It was a sensible precaution. If he was going to beat me on my naked buttocks he wasn't sure how I was going to take that After the rejection by Maziwisa, Roebuck had turned his romantic attention to others in the house.

But we would see certain guys coming out of Peter's room late at night. It created a lot of suspicion. After all, here was a father who was doing more for us than even our own biological fathers. In , Maziwisa left Straw Hat to live with Thandeka and their baby son.

His brothers Immigration and Integrity had come down from Harare and were under Roebuck's wing. The beatings and sexual harassment continued, even intensified, after Maziwisa's departure.

I sat down with him and said this whole thing has to stop, the beatings and the hugging etc because one day this whole thing might get messy," says Maziwisa.

In , Immigration wrote a letter accusing Roebuck of sexual assault. He drew up a list of 12 charges including allegations that Roebuck had molested him while he slept. In a panic, Roebuck summoned Maziwisa to Straw Hat. He says Roebuck told him: "The moment he does that I am finished Captain. This thing will be big news in the papers tomorrow morning. As far as I can see there is no reason for me to live any more. If he wants to do it, let him do it. I will take myself to Albert Falls and throw myself off.

He was red in the face and his hair was standing up. Maziwisa promised to talk Immigration out of showing the letter but said his brother should have a small sum in compensation to leave quietly.

Roebuck at first refused, asking Maziwisa whether he would remain loyal to him if police laid charges against him. Shattered by this betrayal, Roebuck reluctantly agreed to what Maziwisa describes as a payment of a "few thousand rand".

Roebuck read the allegations to the rest of the family. He warned that if he went down, the rest of the family would suffer also. Under pressure from his peers, Immigration recanted but several housemates confirm the payment was made nonetheless.

And in private, Immigration's blackmailing did not cease, according to Trymore. Maziwisa dismisses this as a gross exaggeration. The sum of money was, in fact, immaterial — the power balance in the house had dramatically shifted.

Roebuck had shown his weakness, "the soft meat" as Trymore called it. He could no longer beat them with impunity, nor make sexual advances. Another housemate had extracted money from Roebuck to buy his silence in White friends in Pietermaritzburg were aware of the payments but refused to believe the allegations, according to Maziwisa.

They gave him the kind of advice he needed to hear," he says. Adrienne Anderson, a neighbour during the Straw Hat years and among Roebuck's closest friends — but who admits "I didn't really know him" — says she did question why Roebuck would pay Immigration if the allegations were false.

She says Roebuck asked her to mediate a meeting between Maziwisa, Immigration and himself at which Roebuck claimed that Immigration's assault allegations had come after a substantial amount of money had disappeared from his bank account over a three-year period. Roebuck is alleged to have also said "the abuse allegations had been used as a means of dissuading [Roebuck] from pursuing any action over the missing money". Anderson says Roebuck did not discuss personal matters with her, but did confide that he suspected Maziwisa had been "skimming off the top" amounts from his bank account for some time.

Another South African friend, who declined to be named, questions Maziwisa's motives in making the abuse allegations. Maziwisa denies that he stole from Roebuck but concedes that he did "get carried away" with the debit card in while his mentor was away.

He also concedes that the man who had spent so much giving him and his "brothers" their greatest opportunity in life, had reached a critical decision last year. Just months before his death, Maziwisa says Roebuck told him that he would rather take his own life than face further blackmail from his sons.

If people come to me seeking money from reliving the past I'm not going to have that. I can go any time. The death knell for Roebuck's relationship with Maziwisa sounded when the young man went to work for Mugabe's regime in Harare as a political adviser to Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, in the mid s. Roebuck despised the man who was responsible for the misery so many of his students had suffered.

As Coward recalls, Roebuck was devastated by this betrayal. It sparked a dramatic falling out that left him bereft. After the split, Roebuck would no longer have Maziwisa to guide him in the selection of new family members and that would be his downfall.

Itai Gondo was not an orphan , nor a penniless refugee. He just wanted help with his tuition fees. He was also scrupulously honest. Sunrise housemate Petros Tani, 23, had introduced Gondo to Roebuck, suggesting in a Facebook message that the student drop his age. Communicate with him as your father Your focus needs not to be on financial support but neediness as of a father and a family. The rest will then come," Tani wrote. As a man of faith I wouldn't want that heavy on my conscience.

Mr Roebuck is a father figure and deserves the respect expected to be given as a father figure as that stipulated in the Bible," Gondo responded to Tani on Facebook. Gondo alleges that he and Roebuck had spent two hours talking before the conversation turned to sex. At some point, Roebuck went into the bathroom, allegedly emerging naked whereupon he pinned Gondo on the bed and sexually assaulted him. The attack apparently only ended when Gondo's mobile phone rang.

The following day, Roebuck asked Tani on Facebook if there had been any word from Gondo, who had now removed his profile. Tani: "Finally I spoke with Itai after calling him all day. He explained everything about your meeting. He said he is no longer interested in your assistance and that's why he removed himself on Facebook. Roebuck: "Oh well, not too sure what he said.

He was a bit strange but he needs a lot of help. He needs to call me or other way round. Sometimes things go wrong the first time but you have got to fight back.

He's basically a good person. Am trying to put him in touch with Ruswa and think he can help him. Roebuck: "Not really, it was a strange meeting but am only here one more full day and he has many skills e. At present he studies and works nights which is too hard. Tani: "Anyway Dad my advice would be to forget about him. We cannot force him because he doesn't need anything to do with you or us. Worse off he doesn't need any contact with anyone. Roebuck: "Oh he's depressed.

Isn't that dangerous? Think he needs to uplift his life. Sometimes I go a bit far in first meetings. I suppose outsiders not used to it but his life is important whereas our relationship is not.

Gondo: "You have greatly humiliated me, and I feel very violated, disgusted with myself, your acts were of the purest, sickest kind. Roebuck: "Itai has sent me a nasty message and am sick about it. I'm upset, don't tell anyone or they will worry. About 9pm on November 12, Gondo rang Tani demanding to know where Roebuck was, declaring he would have him charged with sexual assault.

Tani says he tried hard to talk Gondo out of it, saying they would all suffer. South African Police spokesman Vish Naidoo says the body has been released to the family. The results of an inquest may not be known for up to two years, but Colonel Naidoo says police maintain there is no evidence of foul play. Earlier, Roebuck had posted a message on Facebook which underscored the tragedy. For too long everyone, even his victims, had overlooked his few damaging faults in favour of his many virtues.

AS WE passed each other, running in opposite directions on Bondi Beach in early , I almost persuaded myself that it was someone else. But from metres, I had recognised the slightly bow-legged gait and the outfit — faded cloth hat, football shorts and T-shirt. In December , I had stolen a pair of cricket pads from him.

It was after my last match in the First XI and this was a chance to take revenge on someone whom I felt had never appreciated my potential.