The distraught mother of a Zimbabwean national Elvis Nyathi who was brutally murdered in South Africa last week for not having a passport said it will be difficult to find closure on the tragedy.
Speaking to Chronicle on Thursday night in Nkulumane 12 where mourners are gathered for the funeral, the late Nyathi’s mother Sithembile Sibanda said:
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?
Sibanda thanked President Emmerson Mnangagwa for according her son a State-assisted funeral. She said:
We are very grateful to the President for what he has done for us. It takes a huge load from our shoulders.
A memorial service for Nyathi was held at the Underground Hillbrow Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday.
Mourners condemned Operation Dudula leader Nhlanhla Lux for inciting his compatriots to turn against migrants claiming that they were taking their jobs and also involved in criminal activities.
A representative of the Julius Malema-led Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who was wearing the party’s regalia, said a black African is not a foreigner in South Africa. He said:
The real foreigners are the whites but the likes of Nhlanhla Lux are failing to confront them, instead, they run after a mere gardener.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Mphathi Ndlovu, a cousin to the late Nyathi, said:
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.
Nyathi (43) was dragged from his home last week on Wednesday night by a mob in Diesploot and viciously assaulted.
The group later necklaced him with an old tyre before setting it alight in the street, a few metres from his home.
Nyathi’s remains are expected to arrive in the country this Friday and will be buried at Mvutshwa Cemetery tomorrow.
A church service at Brethren in Christ Church in New Lobengula will be held before his burial.