The angry family of late former South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni wants those who disregarded his last wish for former president Thabo Mbeki speak at his funeral to apologise because “lentswe la mohu ga le tshelwe”.
In an email sent to Mbeki on Tuesday and seen by Sunday World, Mboweni’s brother, Jo, stated that “government protocol will never supersede the word of the departed or trounce the wishes of the family in mourning”.
The email came after Mboweni’s two brothers, Jo and Lincoln, led a family delegation to Thabo Mbeki Foundation offices in Johannesburg on Monday to apologise after the former president was embarrassingly removed as a speaker at their brother’s funeral, which went against Mboweni’s last wish.
Mboweni reportedly left a handwritten note with his brother, Jo, that Mbeki must speak at his funeral.
Family and friends confirmed that Mboweni spent his last three days with Jo.
Sunday World confirmed that minutes before the funeral began last Saturday in near Tzaneen, Mbeki was among the dignitaries scheduled to speak but was snubbed at the end.
Long ago, Mboweni and Mbeki had vowed to each other that whoever died first the other would speak at the funeral. The family informed the government officials tasked with arranging Mboweni’s funeral of this sacred wish.
Three independent sources confirmed to Sunday World this week that Mboweni had put his last wishes, including having Mbeki as a speaker at his funeral, in writing. “Tito even wrote the type of food he wanted served at his funeral,” said one source.
In his email to Mbeki, Jo added that those responsible for the fiasco must apologise. “It is not the ANC that must apologise for disregarding the wish and directives of Cde Tito Mboweni and his family, but those who decided and who disregarded the wish who must apologise to [Mbeki], the Mboweni family, the ANC, and the world for what happened.
“In my clan and in line with African wisdom, it is a very well known and respected tradition that ‘lentswe la mohu ga le tshelwe – a dead man’s wish must be respected.”
Jo emphasised the need to teach government officials to respect family wishes when tasked with arranging an official funeral and to draw lessons from the disaster that was his brother’s funeral.
“This lesson must be etched with a chisel of morality on the foundation stone of the building and office of every important structure dealing with protocol,” he wrote.
Other sources who were close to the funeral arrangements said when the funeral programmes arrived, everyone was surprised to see Mbeki’s name not included.
“There was even a serious discussion whether to hide those programmes or not, but at the end it was agreed that they must be distributed as they were, without former president Mbeki in the line-up of speakers,” the source added.
Sources told Sunday World that Mbeki decided to release the video in which he read his planned eulogy at the funeral after meeting with the Mboweni family on Monday.
“The decision to remove Mbeki as a speaker was made because some people thought he was going to outshine president Ramaphosa. There’s no denying that Mbeki and Tito were closer than he was with Ramaphosa,” another source explained.
Ramaphosa’s office has been mum about the incident and has so far not said a word.
Mboweni’s other sibling, Alto, refused to confirm or deny that his brother had left a draft programme for his funeral and had included Mbeki as a speaker.
“We have asked the media, as a family, to give us space to mourn, and we haven’t yet decided to talk about anything,” he said.
Thabo Mbeki Foundation spokesperson Lukhanyo Neer couldn’t confirm or deny that the former president received the email from Jo.
Jo was unavailable for comment.
