“Oh! Father, we come to You this morning in need of Your guidance and comfort.
Deliver us, dear Lord, from this evil which has invaded our township.
Oh! Save us, Almighty Redeemer.
Here today we kneel down before You as Your faithful servants and beloved children.
Show us the way Oh! King of Kings.
We cannot lead ourselves, but only You can be our direction.
Oh! Heavenly Father, we pray that You be with Your children who lie here before us and safeguard their families as You have always done.
In the name of Your only begotten Son: our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
He, who died on the cross for our sins.
Amen.”

Father Richmond, a Catholic priest, and the chosen elder to oversee the funeral service, stood at the lectern in the church. He was dressed in a purple cloth with a small, round skull cap and wore a face of authority, with big, calm, watchful eyes. Right after he had said the prayer, we as the congregation got up from our knees and sat down.

The church was been packed to its full capacity. It was the funeral service of Buntu Khoza. The hall had been decorated beautifully with all sorts of colourful wild flowers of pink, white, red, orange and purple.

“Folk, today’s scripture is taken from Isaiah 35 verse 4,” said Father Richmond. “As we are about to depart and head to the graveyard, I want to read this one last message as a form of healing to both the Khoza family and the Hadji family, who are also burying their beloved father, Mustafa, today. It reads as follows:

“Tell everyone who is discouraged; be strong and don’t be afraid!

God is coming to your rescue, coming to punish your enemies.

“Folk, this is the message to erase the wounds and free God’s children from mortal bondage.To the families of the departed. Do not be eager for vengeance. The Lord says He shall punish your enemies and He alone shall rescue you.

“I know at this point in time you are in great pain and you feel deeply shattered. But know this, you are not alone and you will never be alone. The Almighty Lord is your refuge; He is and always has been. Those who have taken the lives of your beloved right here in Edo-Mill will answer unto the Lord Almighty and they will have to bear the great extreme punishment.

“Do not despair, be strong and don’t be afraid, as the scripture says. All things will turn out for the greater good in the end. Before we leave the building we will share a moment of silence, so that each person in this hall may say a silent prayer for the families of the deceased, and give thanks to our Redeemer for His truthful message, which He has given us. Now let us bow our heads for a moment …”

Right after Father Richmond had spoken, people inside the hall were completely still in a long moment of silence.

The verse the priest had read for us had given me a new sense of hope inside. I began to say a little prayer with my head bowed down. The fear I had been feeling before seemed to have been taken away. It’s not easy to explain, but that’s just how I felt after hearing the verse.

“Hey, it was a well-handled funeral service,” said Uncle Edward as we left the hall.

Indeed it was a beautiful service. I couldn’t agree more. Even when we stepped out of the building, the scenery outside was beautiful, blue skies and not a cloud in the sky. But there was still fear on the streets of Edo-Mill, and there would be until the Grizzly Bear Gang was caught.

As we stood around the grave the priest spoke:

“And now, as the coffin is lowered down for the last time, we say:

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

Let the deceased finally enter his resting places.

We as the living, put our only trust in our Lord and know that someday we shall meet again, in a tranquil state where there will be no more pain but only everlasting joy.

Oh! Heavenly Father, here are your children whom You have used as Your shining instruments and blessed us with, to witness their character while they were in our presence.

We thank you, merciful God, and we put our faith in You that You shall awaken the deceased once again when Your only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, finally returns to gather His flock to eternal paradise … Amen.”

After Father Richmond had given the blessing that ended the service, family members of the deceased were given the chance to say their last goodbyes. Each of them held soil in their hand and poured it down on top of the coffin.

The next day the community came together for a memorial for both Mustafa, who had already been buried by his family, and Buntu Khoza. It seemed like the whole township was there, in the community hall.

I got the shivers when I arrived and saw photographs of the deceased hanging on the wall. I thought back to Mustafa at his shop in Zone 1. I thought of the pattern, like a river, that his spilled blood made on the floor. I thought of the lively and humble character he had been – indeed, residents of Edo-Mill were going to miss his companionship terribly.

Buntu Khoza’s departure was also a great agony. He was so young.

The date of birth written on the Memorial programme for Mustafa, was 1948/06/11 and Buntu’s was 1988/01/23. It was a dreadful tragedy for a person to die at such a young age.

The mournful cries inside hall were saddening. I was seated in one of the back rows. Mustafa’s family were seated at the front. Mustafa had left behind his distraught wife and three children, and a great number of grandchildren. I could not even begin to imagine how unfair life had been to them in the departure of their beloved father.

On the right-hand side, seated at the front was Buntu’s family. It was an unbelievable nightmare for his mother and father, whom he had left behind. They were weeping uncontrollably for their only son. There were also other family members seated alongside his mother and father, their eyes staring at his photograph in disbelief. Other family members kept comforting each other with consoling hugs.

I had been accompanied by Uncle Edward and my friend Sandile to the memorial. Both of them insisted that they would be present on the day to offer me moral support as I paid my last respects.