Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu in BULAWAYO
FOR a moment, just imagine the horror which confronted a couple, which broke into Nothabo Zandile Tshuma’s house in the United Kingdom, only to be met with death.
Nothabo (42) and her two children – Natalie (15) and Nala (5) – had been dead for days.
Her cousin, Thembie Ncube, and her husband, are the ones who broke into the slain family’s house after concerns, related to their absence, were raised.
Family spokesperson and director of ceremonies, Leon Khumalo, revealed that it was Thembi and her husband, Jabu Ncube, who discovered the bodies after days of desperately trying to contact the family.
He revealed this inside the Brethren in Christ Church in New Lobengula yesterday during a service for the slain mother and her kids.
Nothabo’s coffin lay in the middle, sandwiched between her two young daughters – Natalie and Nala.
Behind them stood two large murals depicting a mother walking hand-in-hand with her daughters along a tree-lined path, towards a glowing sunset, their backs turned as though embarking on one final journey together.
In the gallery were hundreds of mourners who had filled the church to the brim as they followed proceedings.
Tens of thousands of others followed on livestream.
Thembi and Jabu, who were Nothabo’s neighbours in Great Denham, Bedfordshire, became concerned after they had not seen her, or the children, for several days.
“On Saturday they didn’t see Nothabo and the children, Sunday they were not there and also Monday,” Khumalo told the mourners.
“Thembi and her husband Jabu Ncube started looking for them the whole day on Monday.
“On Tuesday, they broke into the house and found the three dead.”
The revelations drew audible gasps from mourners. Khumalo then spoke about the agonising responsibility of breaking the news to Nothabo’s parents, describing it as the hardest moment of his life.
“I am 66 years old but I tell you that I grew up this year because I had to carry this news to my sister and my brother.
“I took Dr Bruce Khumalo and umama uMaDuma because I couldn’t take this news. How can I take this news to such an elderly couple?
“I got to their home and I knelt in front of them and they asked why I was there with all those people who had accompanied me.
“When I sat on the sofas, I said I had come with visitors but I had sad news. I told them that Zandile and our grandchildren had been found dead at home in the United Kingdom,” he said.
Again, he drew gasps from the auditorium.
Others broke into tears while relatives embraced each other. Thembi, struggling to hold back tears, remembered the cousin she had grown up with and who had welcomed her family when they relocated to the UK.
“Nothabo was my favourite cousin and we grew up together,” she said.
“Two years ago, my family moved to the United Kingdom and it was her who received us.
“It is difficult, my sister, to address you in the past tense. The past two years have been a gift seeing you and I last saw her a week before she was found dead.”
Representing the Khumalo family, Theophilous Khumalo, described Nothabo and her daughters as gifts from God whose lives were marked by faith, humility and love.
“Nothabo Zandile Khumalo and her precious daughters Natalie and Nala, their departure has created a silence so deep that only the voice of God can comfort us.
“We come before the Lord with broken hearts, yet filled with faith that remains unshaken,” he said. He described Nothabo as a woman rooted in faith and purpose who excelled academically before building a distinguished professional career in the United Kingdom.
“Beyond her achievements, Nothabo was a woman of love. Deep, sacrificial and unwavering love.
“Her daughters were her ministry. She poured herself into them, nurturing their minds, their hearts and their faith.
“Natalie and Nala, God’s little flowers. Their lives were short, but their impact was profound.”
The lives the two girls touched were reflected in emotional tributes read from their schools in Bedford.
At Pilgrims Pre-Prep School, where five-year-old Nala was a pupil, remembered her as a bright, affectionate and creative child who loved music, dancing and making people smile.
“Nala began her pilgrim’s journey in our baby room and from the very moment she arrived, we knew there was something very special about her,” the tribute read.
The tribute, written by Ms Baldwin, Ms Kuzio and Mrs Woodward, recalled her “legendary hugs” and said she had a remarkable gift of making people feel valued, noticed and loved.
At Bedford Girls’ School, Natalie was remembered as a young woman whose smile “shone through her eyes and lit up the room”.
Teachers described her as a gifted sportswoman, who represented the school 107 times across cricket, hockey, lacrosse, tennis and netball, while also excelling in music and dance.
Nothabo’s colleagues at Forensic Risk Alliance, where she worked as an Associate Director, also paid tribute to a respected professional whose dedication, integrity and warmth left a lasting impression on everyone she worked with.
Emotions ran high when Dr Ntsika Dakamela, representing the Magonya family (Zandile’s mother’s side of the family), said they had expected relatives of Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma to visit their home and offer an apology in accordance with cultural tradition.
“The Tshuma family has not come to apologise to us. They were supposed to come to the gate, kneel down and say they were sorry because what happened was not of their doing.
“We don’t want people to speculate. We expected them to come, but they did not. They took it lightly,” he said.
However, later during the service, Talent Mkandla, representing the Tshuma family, conveyed condolences to the Khumalo family, saying they shared their grief and would continue praying for both families.
Bulawayo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube has described the rise in gender-based violence (GBV) in Bulawayo and the wider Matabeleland region as a worrying trend.
Addressing the Tshuma family, she called for unity between the Tshuma, Khumalo and Magonya families as they dealt with the tragedy.
“To the Tshuma family, you gave birth to flesh, but not to the soul. Come closer to the Khumalo and Magonya families. There is no household where there is a person who disappoints their parents.
“I call on the families to unite and stand together as people of Bulawayo and as people of Zimbabwe,” she said.
The service was marked by tears, hymns, prayers and moving tributes from family members, friends, colleagues and schools in the UK, all remembering three lives
The three were laid to rest side by side at Old Luveve Cemetery.
