Heartbreaking farewell for Nothabo, daughters

SHE has finally come home with her daughters. But instead of stepping through the gate of the house where she was born and raised, Nothabo Zandile Tshuma (nee Khumalo) and her two daughters returned in a hearse.

Parked outside the family home in Gwabalanda yesterday morning, her coffin stood in the centre, flanked by those of her daughters, Natalie and Nala.

It was a heartbreaking image — a mother and her children returning to Zimbabwe not for a family reunion or holiday, but for their final journey.

Nothabo (42) and her daughters Natalie (15) and Nala (5) died in July in a tragedy that shocked Zimbabweans at home and abroad.

The three were found dead at their family home in Great Denham, Bedfordshire, after relatives and friends raised concerns when they had not been seen or heard from for several days.

Police later launched a murder investigation after forcing entry into the property. A post-mortem found that the deaths were caused by blunt force trauma, while Nothabo’s husband and the girls’ father, Ndodana Mkhanyisi

Tshuma, was arrested in South Africa after an international manhunt and is facing murder charges in connection with their deaths.

Early yesterday morning, hundreds of mourners had gathered long before the cortege arrived.

Under tents erected outside the house, neighbours, relatives and friends sang hymns that broke the silence of the cold winter morning. Others stood quietly, wiping away tears, while whispered conversations carried the same question: ‘How had it come to this?’

After a brief prayer, the three coffins were gently returned to the waiting hearses and the convoy slowly pulled away, leaving behind a home that had welcomed Nothabo many times before, but never like this.

By the time the cortege reached Brethren in Christ Church in New Lobengula, every seat had already been taken.

Mourners had begun arriving as early as 7am, and by the time the service started, the church was overflowing, forcing many to follow proceedings from outside. Others followed through live streaming.

Hymns once again filled the air as the three hearses came to a stop. Then came one of the day’s most poignant moments.

Supported by a walking frame and accompanied by relatives, the girls’ grandmother, dressed in Brethren in Christ Church uniform, Mrs Velile Khumalo, waited outside the church to receive her daughter and granddaughters for the last time.

Nothabo’s coffin was wheeled in first, followed by those of Natalie and little Nala.

She then slowly returned to the front to sit with her husband and grandfather, Mr Livingstone Edward Khumalo, reprimanding the media and other people with cellphones not to take pictures or videos of her.

Both Mr and Mrs Khumalo watched in silence, surrounded by relatives who gently supported her as she confronted a loss few could ever imagine.

The family had asked the media not to photograph them that morning, a request that underscored the deeply personal nature of their grief.

Inside the church, the three coffins rested side by side — Nothabo in the middle, with Natalie and Nala on either side.

At the back of the stage were two murals depicting Nothabo walking away along a tree-lined path towards a glowing sunset, holding her daughters on each side, their backs turned as if taking one final journey.

Introducing Mrs Thembie Ncube (nee Magonya), a cousin to Nothabo and close family member, family spokesperson and director of ceremonies, Mr Leon Khumalo revealed that it was Mrs Ncube and her husband, Mr Jabu Ncube, who discovered the bodies after days of trying to make contact with the family.

The couple, who were neighbours to Nothabo in the United Kingdom, had raised the alarm after failing to see her and the children for several days.

“On Saturday they didn’t see Nothabo and the children, Sunday they were not there and also on Monday.

“Thembi and her husband Jabu Ncube started looking for them the whole day on Monday. Until on Tuesday they broke into the house and found the three dead,” said Mr Khumalo.

He described the moment he had to break the devastating news to Nothabo’s parents as one of the most painful experiences 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?” he said.

Mr Khumalo said he knelt before Nothabo’s parents when he arrived at their home and struggled to find the words to tell them what had happened.

“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, drawing gasps of grief from mourners.

Mrs Ncube later paid tribute to her cousin, describing Nothabo as a close family member whose death had left a void that words could not explain.

“Nothabo was my favourite cousin and we grew up together. When we connected at Midlands State University 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,” she said.

The funeral service brought together Government officials, church leaders, family members, friends and hundreds of mourners who gathered to bid farewell to a mother and her two daughters whose deaths in the United Kingdom had touched people across Zimbabwe and beyond.

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.

Tshuma is wanted for questioning for the murder of Zandile, Nala and Natalie.

He fled to South Africa from the United Kingdom, where he was arrested last month after an international manhunt.

“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, Mr Talent Mnkandla, representing the Tshuma family, conveyed condolences to the Khumalo family, saying they shared in their grief and would continue praying for both families.

Quoting from Psalm 121, Mnkandla encouraged the bereaved family to seek strength from God, saying only

He could provide comfort and healing during such a painful time.

In a solemn address to mourners, Bulawayo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube described the rise in gender-based violence (GBV) in Bulawayo and the wider Matabeleland region as a worrying trend, questioning what has gone wrong in society.

“Marriage must be a small heaven on earth, but our homes have now turned into hell, and we are not sure what is happening. What has gone wrong and what have we been doing wrong as a people?” said Minister Ncube.

She said the statistics on GBV in Bulawayo and Matabeleland were a cause for concern.

“The statistics that we have on gender-based violence in Bulawayo are as if we have taken the cup, and in the Matabeleland region it is as if we are second.

“What has gone wrong and what have we been doing wrong as a people?” she said.

Minister Ncube said recent cases of violence against women and children showed the need for communities to unite in fighting the scourge.

She also expressed concern over domestic violence cases, citing the recent killing of a woman in Nkulumane.

“Let us create home care programmes to stop this scourge.

“I call upon the city and the province to come together and pray to chase away the spirit of murder that is in this city,” said Minister Ncube.

Addressing the Tshuma family, she called for unity between the Tshuma, Khumalo and Magonya families as they deal 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.

Bulawayo Mayor Councillor David Coltart described the deaths as a tragedy beyond human comprehension, saying no words could adequately explain the pain of losing a child and grandchildren.

“When we come to moments like this of unspeakable grief, the thought of burying a child is bad enough, but the thought of burying grandchildren is beyond my comprehension. I’m sure that we all feel that today,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the Khumalo family, Mr Theophilus Khumalo paid an emotional tribute to Nothabo, describing her and her daughters as gifts from God whose lives were defined by faith, humility and love.

He said Nothabo was a hardworking and accomplished woman who excelled academically before establishing a distinguished professional career in the United Kingdom.

Beyond her achievements, he said, she was a devoted mother who poured herself into raising Natalie and Nala with love, faith and purpose.

“Natalie and Nala, God’s little flowers. Their lives were short, but their impact was profound,” he said.

Following the service, hundreds of mourners joined a long funeral procession to Old Luveve Cemetery. Dozens of vehicles joined the slow-moving convoy, stretching for what seemed like kilometres.

“Parking quickly became impossible, while some people left buses and walked the remaining distance to the gravesite.

By then, the morning chill had given way to the warmth of the afternoon sun.

“Once more, hymns rose above the crowd as the three coffins were lowered side by side into the earth.

There were no loud outbursts, only voices joined in worship and prayer as mourners watched in silence, some wiping away tears while others stood with bowed heads.

The service was also livestreamed online, allowing thousands of people in Zimbabwe and abroad to follow the final farewell.

When the final prayers ended, people did not rush away. Families lingered around the graves before making the slow journey back to their vehicles, bringing to a close a day that began with a heartbreaking homecoming and ended with Zimbabwe saying goodbye to Nothabo and her daughters.