Drama as hearse flees with Mahlangu’s body

By Vusumuzi Dube

BULAWAYO – There were chaotic scenes at the late Nkulumane Member of the National Assembly Mr Thamsanqa Mahlangu’s burial yesterday with rival MDC-T factions physically fighting for the late legislator’s body.

The chaos was further exacerbated by party president Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and his executive’s boycott of the burial as rifts within the party continue to escalate.

Ironically, Mr Tsvangirai and the rest of the MDC-T’s national executive were in Bulawayo for the funeral. The burial, which was initially meant to start at 9am, only got underway at 1pm, an hour past the daily deadline for holding burials at Lady Stanley Cemetery.

Three funeral wakes were held for the late MP at three different venues, with the main wake held at his stepfather, Mr Mugova’s Nkulumane house, the other two were at his paternal family house in Luveve and his grandmother’s house, also in Luveve.

MDC-T youths were in the forefront of all the chaos after they blocked the removal of Mr Mahlangu’s body at his father’s house in Luveve, alleging that the family had threatened to confiscate the body and prevent it from being buried yesterday.

This saw the youths clashing with another faction from Luveve and also saw some youths attacking the Nyaradzo Funeral Services undertaker, resulting in him speeding off with the body. Some youths could be heard singing denigratory songs against MP Mahlangu’s paternal family — the Sangos — who they accused of wanting to reap where they did not sow.

On Friday evening the youths reportedly blocked the body from being taken from Nkulumane to Luveve, where Mr Mahlangu was expected to lie in State for the night. Mourners who spoke to Sunday News alleged that the MP had long disowned his father hence they were not going to allow the body to be taken to the Luveve house.

“Mahlangu was last in this house more than 20 years ago, so why should we now bring him here? Besides, he was the MP for Nkulumane not Luveve; it’s like mourning someone at a stranger’s house. It’s culturally not allowed. Worse still, we heard that they want to detain the body for another day, which we feel is insane. This is why we are taking over,” said a mourner who identified himself as Nkosi.

MP Mahlangu reportedly lived with the Sangos until he finished his A-levels and then moved to Nkulumane to live with his mother and stepfather. He joined politics while living in Nkulumane, landing the MDC-T’s youth chairperson’s post and later a seat in Parliament.

The late legislator also had a brief stint as Deputy Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment during the days of the inclusive Government.

Meanwhile, the party’s factionalism was further exposed at the burial at Lady Stanley Cemetery as the party’s national and provincial leadership were conspicous with their absence. Only the party’s former national organiser Mr Nelson Chamisa, their chief whip Mr Innocent Gonese and Mkoba legislator Mr Amos Chibaya attended.

The party’s national spokesperson, Mr Obert Gutu, spent just under 12 minutes and left in a huff before the burial proceedings had begun. Mr Tsvangirai was in the city and sources said he was advised against attending the burial under unclear circumstances.

Former Silobela MP Mr Arnold Sululu further exposed the party’s internal fights when he openly blasted the national executive for boycotting the burial, saying this was an issue which had to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

“Where are our national leaders? Where is our president? Yes, the family had its problems but today we showed the whole nation that we are more than divided. How can we as a party try to intervene in family disputes, it worsened everything.

“As a party we must shun factionalism, this is one thing that Mahlangu told me on his death bed. I can tell you that today he is not happy because of all this chaos,” said Mr Sululu.

Sources who spoke to Sunday News revealed that Mr Tsvangirai was advised from attending as he was not sure which family he was going to console.

“Initially, Mr Tsvangirai was meant to attend the church service at Nkulumane Roman Catholic Church but it was felt he would be taking sides and after the clashes at Luveve he was then advised against going to the cemetery as there were fears that there would be more clashes,” said the source.

On Friday Mr Tsvangirai reportedly advised the Bulawayo provincial structures to wait until the families resolve their differences and stand guided by their decisions. Mr Mahlangu has previously been linked to a banned wing of the MDC-T, which calls itself the MDC Veteran Activists Association. Sunday News