Thousands mourn slain student Palesa Madiba

11 January 2016

 

There was no dry eye in the auditorium of the Soweto campus of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Saturday January 9 where more than 2 000 mourners had gathered to bid farewell to murdered student Palesa Madiba.

 

The 21-year-old, a final-year B Com Accounting student, was last seen alive on 9 August 2013 after spending the weekend at a friend’s house in Phiri, Soweto.

Her remains were found in a shallow grave on the same property on December 16 last year following an anonymous tip-off to the police. No one has been arrested and police are continuing with their investigations. In moving tributes, mourners described Madiba as a “bright, spirited, intellectual and respectful young woman who loved tennis and dancing”.

“She genuinely loved people. Her heart-melting smile was testimony to this. She loved her studies and was a massive Orlando Pirates FC and Barcelona FC supporter,” part of her obituary read. As photographs of her were flighted continuously on the two screens on the podium, it was easy to see how this bubbly, fun-loving and outgoing student touched so many lives. She looked happy and full of promise.

SABC news anchor Noxolo Grootboom directed the three-hour service.

Madiba’s family – especially her inconsolable mother Khosi Galetwi and eight siblings – as well as her university friends, wept uncontrollably during the service, which was also attended by Department of Higher Education and Training Deputy Director Dr Diane Parker and UJ Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Tshilidzi Marwala.

Speaking on behalf of Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande, Parker appealed to anyone with information on Madiba’s murder to come forward. Prof Marwala said Madiba had “great promise to move our society forward”.

Mzwakhe Mbuli rendered a poem condemning crime against women before tearful friends and family members.

Speaking on the behalf of Madiba’s mother, Portia Makhathini said: “I don’t know where to start when I’ve to speak about my precious daughter. To tell the truth, I knew that one day I’d have to part with my daughter, but not in this way. I’m trying to remain strong for everyone but deep down I’m broken.”

One of Palesa’s sisters, Lerato, said: “Whenever I think of the horrible ordeal my sister encountered that resulted in her death, I just close my eyes and comfort myself while thinking about her beautiful smile.”

Her childhood friend, Thato Mphehlo, said: “Palesa was a loving, bubbly person. I was devastated when I heard she had disappeared. I couldn’t even imagine what the family was going through. Palesa was the kind of person who would get you out of tricky situations. But after her long disappearance I knew something had gone wrong.”

Andile Hlatshwayo, her university friend, said soon after Madiba disappeared, she wrote messages on her Facebook page daily telling her about campus life, hoping she would return.

“Palesa my friend, I never thought I would speak at your funeral. This is not an ideal setting, friend. Your wedding, maybe, graduation or baby shower would have been the ideal setting,” she said. Madiba was buried in a private ceremony.