SHOCK. Bewilderment. Grief. These were just some of the emotions palpable in the sprawling student digs Peter Roebuck had set up for students who said he was like a dad to them and who had given them hope when, in most cases, there had been none.
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The house close to the University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg campus in the suburb of Scottsville was where Roebuck spent six months of each year. ''When he was here, we would eat meals together. He would spend time with us together and he would regularly speak to us separately,'' said Dennis Chadya, 24.
''Peter touched lives on a grand magnitude,'' said Prosper Tsvanhu, on a cricketing scholarship at the university - thanks to Roebuck.
''I was playing in Zimbabwe but nobody wanted to play with us. My coach recommended me to Peter. He managed to organise the cricketing scholarship for me at the university and has been helping me with food and accommodation.
''Peter gave in many ways. He was a mentor. A father figure. He seemed to have this moral compass and moral obligation to assist others. He was concerned about everyone's well-being. He was terribly concerned about the situation in Zimbabwe and felt people must not just complain. They should do something. That is what he was doing. He touched so many lives.''
Tsvanhu, studying media, says on a professional level, Roebuck was invaluable. ''He was a journalist and not only that, he was interested in so many things and had opinions on so many things, he would challenge us to think.''
The Pietermaritzburg commitment began, said Integrity Maziwisa, 24, when Roebuck went to Zimbabwe a few years ago. Australia was playing Zimbabwe and Roebuck was there to cover the games. ''I was living in St Joseph's orphanage in Harare. We had a marimba band and played before the match. We needed a lift back home and our manager spoke to the cricket coach who spoke to Peter. He organised us the transport and then asked about the orphanage and the living conditions. My brother, Psychology (now 28), was the first of the guys that Peter brought to Pietermaritzburg and sponsored.''
Psychology graduated with a law degree and is now back working in Zimbabwe.
At the house, the students have chores and they take turns cooking. The house is comfortable and homey and filled with African art, mainly Zimbabwean - bright paintings and pieces of stone sculpture. There is a pool table, a soccer net and a well-used swimming pool. There are four dogs and a fairly well tended garden.
''Peter works in it when he's here,'' says Chadya, who stressed that everything they were reading in the papers about Roebuck and possible accusations were news to them. ''He was like a father to us. He encouraged us to think of the future. To plan and think of dreams. He offered hope.''
Several of the students at the house are orphans. Abraham Mubvumbi is not an orphan. His mother is dead and his father lives in a tiny Zimbabwean village. ''I got good grades at school. Someone told Peter about me. I met him and he helped me get my degree.''
Justice Hakata, 23, is studying social science. His brother is supposed to arrive in four days time from the orphanage in Zimbabwe where they both lived to study at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
And Roebuck had helped Petro Tani, 25, with his application to do his masters degree at the University of Brandeis in the United States.
''I have a scholarship thanks to Peter and am enrolled to start next year. Peter was going to help with my living costs. I don't know what's going to happen now.''
That was how all the young men were feeling. What next? Roebuck, they said, had instilled hopes and dreams in them. With his death, their dreams are in limbo. Nobody knows what will be next.
