Home | News | TEARS, JOKES AT EDITOR’S FUNERAL

TEARS, JOKES AT EDITOR’S FUNERAL

Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font

mfanukhona@times.co.sz


NYAKENI -“I will never see my cousin Thulani again.” This was said by a sobbing woman after seeing the casket carrying the body of the deceased former Swazi Observer and Swazi News Editor Thulani Thwala being lowered to the grave.


She looked composed and relaxed throughout the vigil preceding her cousin’s burial yesterday morning at Nyakeni, in the outskirts of Manzini, but she found herself in a painful and emotional terrain that triggered other mourners to come to terms with reality.
Just at about 6:20am, pall bearers from Dups Funeral Home pressed the casket lowering device, causing Thwala’s wife, Gcinekile and his children to burst into heart-touching cries.


The breadwinner is gone. What a painful scenario!
The deceased’s wife, his son ,Tebo in particular, and his (Thwala) daughters were inconsolable.
At this time, no verse or words of wisdom appeared to be making them strong enough to withstand their grief and sorrow.


They had to cry. After all, everyone who had a chance to address the mourners heaped praises on the enterprising and soft-spoken scribe, whose pen-pushing ability made him one of the best newsroom managers and journalists the country has ever produced.


His death was described as a big loss, not only to his family but to the entire nation because his writing touched people from the breadth and length of the country. No wonder many of the mourners were seen retrieving handkerchiefs from their pockets to wipe off tears.


About 500 people attended. Notable mourners were his friends, who supported his family during the preparation of the funeral. These were Sifiso Dhlamini, the Corporate Communications Manager of Eswatini Electricity Company, Sifiso Nyembe, the Group Public Affairs Manager of the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation (RSSC).


Others who were present who worked with Thwala in the newsroom were Martin Dlamini, the Managing Editor of the Times of Swaziland, and former journalists for the same newspaper, Pastor Muzi Yende, Jerry Dube and Makhosi Magongo, the now Corporate Strategy and Communications Manager of the Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.


There is a general feeling that journalists do not attend funerals of their own.
However, it was a different kettle of fish at Nyakeni, as the scribes turned up in their numbers.
There were journalists from Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services, who paid their last respects to the late editor. These included Donatus ‘Inkhonotja’ Zwane and Siphesihle Nxumalo, popularly known as Sihlabane sebenguni and Simangele ‘Lady Sma’Dlamini.
Bheki Makhubu, the Editor of the Nation Magazine, was there as well to bid farewell to his colleague.

Political figures
Kukhanyeni MP Vincent Sihlongonyane attended the funeral, while Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku and Mbabane businessman Walter Bennett were thanked in absentia for their contributions to the success of the funeral.
They were thanked by Shaka Thwala, the late editor’s brother. One of the deceased’s relative Robert Thwala, the ex-Chief Electoral Officer, spoke on behalf the family at the graveyard.
One would have mistaken the funeral for that of a pupil. This is because learners from Mhlatane High School, where Thwala’s children are also studying, came to support their bereaved schoolmates.
The pupils, travelling in four kombis (quantums), were active during the vigil, serving mourners with tea and buns. They were also busy at the graveyard, carrying flowers and reading messages from mourners.
Since Thwala had a sense of humour, relatives and journalists explained to the mourners how he made the newsroom come alive with his jokes. Patients taking dialysis at the Mbabane Government Hospital sent a representative to relay a message to the family that Thwala would be remembered for his jokes.
It must be said that Sifiso Nyembe, his friend and Mfanukhona Nkambule, the President of the Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ), had also informed the mourners at the memorial service that the deceased editor had his own way and words to use to have everyone on board.
Nyembe said his friend used amusing words, which ended up motivating the reporters, yet he (Nyembe) could be reprimanded at his workplace for uttering the same words.
Nkambule said Thwala was a good political reporter, who tricked his competitors into believing that a parliamentary session was boring when in fact it was not.
He solely tricked the reporters in Parliament so that they did not write what was being said by the MPs. However, in the next edition of his newspaper, Nkambule said Thwala would write everything, which he earlier said was boring.


Comments (0 posted):

Post your comment comment

Please enter the code you see in the image: