SLAIN ANC councillor Sibusiso Khwela whose murder has rocked the small township of Klaarwater, west of Durban, where he was killed serving residents at the Sizakala Centre on Thursday. Khwela will be laid to rest on Saturday after a funeral service at Klaarwater Sports Ground on August 15.
Last Saturday was a joyful day for the Khwela family as one of their sons presented gifts to his future wife's family on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast in a ceremony known as umembeso in Zulu culture. The ceremony was combined with umkhehlo, a pre-wedding ritual that serves as the bride's send-off to her new family.
It was a well-attended celebration, filled with all the pomp and glitz for which the Khwelas, a prominent family in the Mariannhill taxi industry, are known.
For Sibusiso Khwela, affectionately known by his moniker Khekhe, it was a day of immense pride as his brother's son took an important step towards becoming a family man.
Four days later, the soft-spoken councillor for ward 17 in Klaarwater, was lying lifeless on the cold floor of his Sizakala Centre office in the small, hilly township, west of Durban.
