Public Memorial Service for Joost van der Westhuizen

Joost van der Westhuizen’s J9 Foundation has announced that a Public Memorial Service will be held in Gauteng, South Africa, on Friday. (Update, 10 Feb: Watch the moving tributes for Joost from Amor Vittone, Sumari Botha, PJ Powers, SA Sports Minister and more at Joost’s Public Memorial.)

In a message on Facebook, J9 said: “A public memorial service for Joost Heystek van der Westhuizen will be held at Loftus Versveld (Kirkness street, Pretoria) at 12h30pm on Friday 10 Feb 2017.”

The legendary rugby player who fought for South Africa on the field, and courageously for his life off the field, passed away at the age of 45, after a long struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of Motor Neurone Disease (MND), for the past six years. He leaves behind his two children, Jordan (13) and Kylie (10), as well as his father Gustav, mother Mariana, and brothers Pieter and Gustav.

Watch the heartwarming Jonah Lomu meets Joost van der Westhuizen in South Africa video. 

South Africans who cannot make it to the public memorial are invited to wear their Springbok jerseys on Friday to honour Joost’s life.

For more updates, please visit:
www.facebook.com/J9FoundationJoostvdWesthuizen/