The mother of a Zimbabwean national Elvis Nyathi who was 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 on Wednesday night last week. They 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 today in the country will be
laid to rest at Mvutshwa Cemetery tomorrow after a church service at Brethren
in Christ Church in New Lobengula. President Mnangagwa accorded Nyathi a
State-assisted funeral.
Speaking to Chronicle last night in Nkulumane 12 where
mourners are gathered, the late Nyathi’s mother Ms Sithembile Sibanda yesterday
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 kids and a wife. What did I do to deserve this?” said a visibly
distraught Ms Sibanda.
She thanked the President 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 yesterday where speaker after speaker tore into
the militant Operation Dudula leader Nhlanhla Lux, 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 they did not believe that a black African in South Africa was 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, Mphathi Ndlovu, a cousin
to the late Nyathi, said as a family they were deeply saddened by the demise of
their kin.
“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 Ndlovu.
Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr. Misheck
Sibanda announced that the President had granted a State-assisted funeral to
Nyathi.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Nyathi’s
killing was worse than what the apartheid regime did, describing it as immoral,
racist, and criminal.
He said South Africa should be home to everyone as
enshrined in the Freedom Charter in 1955, whose principles were incorporated in
the South African constitution which declared that South Africa belongs to all
who live in it as it sought to create a society free from ethnic chauvinism,
tribalism, racism, and sexism.
Meanwhile, the Council for Churches in Africa (CCA)
welcomed 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 caring
Governments.
In a statement, CCA said the assistance has 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.
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 since time
immemorial.
“Africa needs to unite in the same spirit that churches
endeavor to bridge the gaps of divisions, and as CCA’s department of Regional
Justice, Peace and Conflict Resolution Affairs, we will strive to use the
resources that we have in making sure that peace will become a reality in some
sections rather than rhetoric.
“ We also seek to remove the narratives which seek to
divide our indigenous churches in preaching peace. Hate speech and violence
remain the major problems in Africa and as churches, we will strive to preach
peace and craft initiatives that seek to unite than divide,” said CCA.
Chronicle
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