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GOODBYE TEMPLE OF THE LORD

30/06/2019 08:53:00 BY MFANUKHONA NKAMBULE

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mfanukhona@times.co.sz

MALKERNS – It was a mixture of the two – either you broke down in tears or maintained composure.

Everyone was allowed to react to the sudden demise of Senator Mike Temple according to their feelings.
A memorial held in the open just like a garden wedding, with mourners facing mountains and valleys, and the green fields of sugar fields across Malandela’s in Mahlanya, one could choose to say it was either a lively atmosphere or a sad moment.

You could be forgiven for choosing either of the two. This is because the life of the deceased lawmaker was narrated by those who were close to him in a manner that left some reflecting on joyous memories and accordingly bursting into laughter while others were touched and henceforth they cried.

mourners touched

Most touching was when a five-minute documentary of Temple in the Chambers of the Pan-African Parliament was played, with the footage showing him talking and defending both the country and His Majesty the King for what he described as malicious statements tantamount to injure the reputation of the State.

Rightly so, he was shown on the screen calling upon journalists, bloggers and media houses disseminating false information on Eswatini men having been instructed to marry more than one wife to retract those reports unreservedly.

First to break down in tears was ex-Deputy Senate President Matoni Ngom’yayona Gamedze, who could not fight back the sorrow he felt for losing a close friend. At the podium, a teary Gamedze was offered water by MP Marwick Khumalo, another very close friend of Temple, to cool off.

“I had prepared something to say, but I see something like the appearance of Temple. I just see Temple,” he said sobbing, triggering others who symphathised with him to join in the sad moment.
That was unforgettable and quite touching.

Marwick MC
It must be said that MP Khumalo was the master of ceremonies, and he managed to overcome the sadness of losing a friend. He remained calm and strong, directing proceedings with aplomb.
Captains of industry, politicians from Eswatini and beyond, royalty and Ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom Lisa Peterson also attended the farewell occasion for the acclaimed late businessman and politician of wealthy knowledge and exposure.
Young and old were present, and the deceased politician touched them all in different ways. I observed that the young people missed a man who provided them with leisure and entertainment, as he was the pioneer and director of the Whispers Shisanyama in Ezulwini, a lively place that offers relaxation to people looking for fun or those who want to have nice time outside home.
Pertaining to the elders, I realised that he touched them in several ways, such as his integrity, and his association with regiments and politicians in Eswatini, and across Africa as he was the chairman of the Committee on Finance and Monetary Affairs at the Pan-African Parliament (PAP).
It was based on this premise that tributes came in different forms. They were formal and informal.
Dressed in black, mourners enjoyed the music rendered by Mbongiseni ‘Bholoja’ Ngubane and gospel sensation Paulette Fortune.
Effects of sun exposure were vivid as they were sweating, and fanning themselves with pamphlets or any piece of paper, including the Bible. That was the smartest way to counter the outdoor humidity, but notably the mourners were not down-spirited as a result of the sunrays.

‘Others now campaigning
for his position’
Mangomeni Ndzimandze, the ex-Army Commander, and representative of the royal family, said some were already exploring avenues to succeed Temple. He said they were already campaigning to win votes to succeed the deceased in Senate and PAP.
Ndzimandze pointed out that they were doing so on the basis of the adage that ‘nature allows no vacuum.’ He described the late politician and businessman as an asset, not a liability.
“Many of us are liabilities but Temple wasn’t. He was an asset,” said Ndzimandze much to the amusement of the mourners.
The former soldier and Eswatini National Court President pointed to the fact that Eswatini needed honest people like the late Senator Temple.
He then donated an undisclosed sum of money from His Majesty the King to the Temple family.

he was anchor of chamber
Ndumiso Mdluli, the Deputy Senate President, said Temple’s absence from the parliamentary sitting of June 27, 2019 was deeply felt and somewhat palpable.
Mdluli, who represented Senate President Pastor Lindiwe Dlamini, mentioned in his speech that the deceased senator sat directly opposite the president’s chair and at the centre of Senate as if to indicate that he was the anchor of the chamber.
He quoted senators when declaring their loss of Temple as having described him as follows; a business person, a traditionalist, a philanthropist, a patriot, a humble somebody, a champion of the arts, a different breed, a free-spirited person, a reservoir of reach knowledge, and a hero.
“These are all the attributes of the consulate politician that he was, a perfect candidate for the Upper House, that is Senate,” he said.
“These are probably the characteristics that endeared him to the members of the House of Assembly, acting as an electoral college over the years, to appoint him four (4) times into Senate.”
He told the mourners that the late Senator Temple began his ‘love affair’ with Senate in 1993 as a 38-year- old ‘lad’, full of drive, passion and ambition.
“Over the years he accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience,” he said.
He said the deceased statesman served in various committees in Senate that included but not limited to chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of the Ministry of Finance, the chairperson of the Standing Orders Committee, the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Information, Communication, and Technology, and a representative of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Eswatini to the Pan-African Parliament.
“His influence transcended the borders of our kingdom. I need not remind you that he did not hesitate to set the record straight in light of somewhat salacious rumours paddled about our country,” he said.
He was also the remaining member of the Sessional Committee that drafted the Standing Orders that Senate is currently using.
Mdluli described him as an asset to Senate when it came to parliamentary practice and procedure.
“His seat, directly opposite the president, made it easy to observe his non-verbal cues which often indicated that something was not right,” he told the mourners.
He said; “Our debut into this world is preceded by a mandatory nine months, sometimes shorter, but our exit is often sudden and unexpected. It is in that respect that the sadness in our hearts makes us feel that we have been robbed, surely death must be a thief, a reckless one at that.”
“Today, I deliberately choose not to mourn but to celebrate the life of a true patriot, a trusted lieutenant who stood in the frontline in defence of this beautiful Kingdom of Eswatini, a country he loved very much.”

Temple’s last debate
Temple’s last sitting was on June 17, 2019, according to the deputy senate president.
On that day, Mdluli said Temple debated a moved Motion Without Notice, relating to the challenges faced by the health sector.
He said the late lawmaker made a passionate plea to the minister of health to make sure that she looked at the bigger picture because the problem was deeper than it had been reflected in the Motion Without Notice.
He also implored the minister to fix the systems in her ministry so that money owed to suppliers would be known at any given time.
Lessons learned from deceased
Fortune Charumbira, the fourth Vice President of the PAP, said African MPs refused to vote for the chairperson of the Finance Committee until Temple was re-elected by Eswatini Parliament back to the continental House of Parliament.
He said the seat remained vacant for eight months until the late senator was elected in May 2019.
“Can people reserve a seat for you just as they did to Temple,” said the Zimbabwean MP much to an all round laughter.
He said Temple was genuine, competent, truthful to the people he served and also believed in them. The vice president said he also respected subordinates and those who were superior to him. He said despite being white, Temple was always with black people. “Everybody loved him at PAP,” he said.
He revealed that he also took instructions as he had some point assigned him to Midrand in South Africa to work on certain figures as he was good at accounting.
“He knew how to justify figures,” he said. He urged people to promote Africanism.