From Hopelessness to Hope – the funeral service of Mandisi Ngcawuzele

From the moment Mzoli phoned me last Thursday to ask me to speak at Mandisi’s funeral, I had butterflies in my stomach …and by the time I was in the church, I was having visions of three “S” scenarios – Stumbling on my way up to the podium, Stuttering through the whole process, or Seizing up completely !

By the grace of God none of these happened and I was able to deliver a clear and concise speech from the heart. (Attached)

Janet and I agreed that we were truly privileged to be there – probably 85% of South Africa celebrate their grief in similar fashion, very different from our traditional English one hour service with tea afterwards and cremation private!

It was a BIG service with I would guess some 600 – 800 people present in the church and probably the same again outside, wanting to catch a glimpse when the crowd emerged. The reason for the crowds is that not only is Mzoli a very successful local businessman, but also very much a community leader and doing a lot for community projects. We do not really have that equivalent in the white community, as our successful businesspeople enclose themselves behind high walls in Constantia and are never really to be seen in the wider community. Secondly, Mandisi was obviously a very popular and well-known figure, and lastly, there is a tradition in that community of making funerals a prioirty.

They was singing and dancing, lots and lots of singing and dancing, and lovely singing too. Right at the outset the officiating priest announced that “We sing in our joy and we sing in our grief – God is Good” There would be spontaneous singing too – after a particularly relevant presentation the choir would burst into song and dance and then the congregation might join in too.

Language medium was half English and half Xhosa – so that that was a bit tricky. The sermon was to the point – and from the English interspersed, the gist was “you have a community, you are to support each other, woe betide those politicians and officials who think they can live an easy life and no obligation to their community”

One did not feel the three hour duration in the least, and not in the least uncomfortable at being 2 of the probably six white people present (we actually only spotted 2. On the contrary, we were made to feel extremely welcome.

So we left with a lot of hope – despite the utter despair of the Ngcawuzele family at their huge loss – the focus was on how much we had all gained from the time Mandisi with us. Their only surviving child , daughter Sisanda, so bravely read an incredibly moving poem written by herself – there is hope indeed.

Mzoli – Funeral Speech ; Mzoli’s Jamie Oliver Article