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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Bulawayo Bureau
THE mother of a Zimbabwean national, Elvis Nyathi, who was brutally killed by a vigilante group in South Africa, yesterday said it will be difficult to find closure following the manner her son was murdered.
Nyathi (41) was callously killed by a vigilante group in Diesploot, northern Johannesburg, on Wednesday night last week.
The mob viciously beat him and later necklaced him with an old tyre before setting it alight.
He was burnt beyond recognition.
No arrests have been made so far.
Nyathi, whose remains arrive in the country today, will be laid to rest at Mvutshwa Cemetery in Bulawayo tomorrow after a church service at Brethren in Christ Church in New Lobengula suburb.
President Mnangagwa accorded Nyathi a State-assisted funeral.
Speaking to our Bulawayo Bureau in Nkulumane 12 last night where mourners are gathered, the late Nyathi’s mother, Ms Sithembile Sibanda, said it will take her a very long time to find closure, if ever, on the tragic event.
“I don’t know why they killed my son. Elvis just wanted to fend for his family and was doing so legally. Now my son is no more and I won’t even be able to see his body yet he left Zimbabwe alive. He has left behind three little children and a wife. What did I do to deserve this?” asked a visibly distraught Ms Sibanda.
She thanked President Mnangagwa for the State-assisted funeral.
“We are very grateful to the President for what he has done for us. It takes a huge load from our shoulders,” said Ms Sibanda.
In South Africa, a moving funeral service was held at the Underground Hillbrow Theatre in Johannesburg yesterday where speaker after speaker tore into the militant Operation Dudula leader Nhlanhla “Lux” Dlamini, who is believed to have incited a section of South Africans to turn against migrants claiming that they were taking their jobs and also involved in criminal activities.
A representative of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said that a black African in South Africa was not a foreigner.
“The real foreigners are the whites but the likes of Nhlanhla Lux are failing to confront them, instead they run after a mere gardener,” said the representative who was clad in EFF regalia.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Mr Mphathi Ndlovu, a cousin to the late Nyathi, said as a family they were deeply saddened by the demise of their family member.
“We are not a vengeful family but we are saddened. Elvis was a man of peace, a simple guy, leaving a simple life. We do not believe that this was done by the generality of South Africans but it’s just an act of a single individual who must somehow be dealt with,” said Mr Ndlovu.
Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, on Wednesday announced that the President had granted Nyathi a State-assisted funeral.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Nyathi’s killing was worse than what the apartheid regime did, describing it as immoral, racist, and criminal.
The Council for Churches in Africa (CCA) welcomed the Government’s decision to accord Nyathi a State-assisted funeral.
It said President Mnangagwa’s decision was a true definition of contemporary leadership that Africa needs and a signal of a caring Government.
CCA said the assistance had come as a relief to the families, relatives, friends, and other authorities who had faced difficulties in the repatriation of the late Nyathi’s remains.
“As indigenous churches’ representative body in the African continent, we urge all our affiliate churches and partners to assist the Governments from which we operate, so that their duties and services to the citizens will be realised. The Zimbabwean Government set a good example by extending such a gesture during this period when the bereaved need assistance,” said the CCA.
The continental churches’ organisation condemned the attack on fellow African brothers and sisters which is against the principles and values of Ubuntu which indigenous churches have advocated for since time immemorial.
Online Reporter