The body of Lindani Myeni has begun its three-day journey back to South Africa after it departed Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii around 5:00.
He was killed by Honolulu Police under disputed circumstances.
Myeni’s remains will fly via stops in Dallas, Texas, London Heathrow on Thursday and onto Johannesburg for a Friday morning arrival around 10:40.
His widow Lindsay Myeni’s lawyers have indicated that she departed for South Africa on Monday this week.
In correspondence seen by the SABC News, her lawyers have called on the South African Government to bring any pressure it can on the United States Government in order for it to pay appropriate attention to the injustice done to the Myeni family and, by extension, to South Africa.
They also lament the lack of media coverage of the case by US media amidst a wave of police killings of black and brown men in the country.
Murder sparks outcry
Twenty-nine-year Myeni, who hails from Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, was shot in a confrontation with police after they responded to a burglary in progress.
Police say that Myeni who lived nearby allegedly followed a woman to her home and exhibited strange behaviour.
They also say that when they arrived at the home, he charged at the officers.
However, in a Facebook post, his widow Lindsay Myeni says her husband had gone out for a drive after a fun family day. She says he was only gone for 18 minutes when she received the news that her husband had been shot four times.
His friends and family have refuted claims of him being a violent person, saying he was a gentle giant.
His murder has also cast a spotlight on police brutality in the United States:
