Family feud postpones KwaDukuza councillor's funeral
Proportional representative councillor Sebenzile Sibiya, née Mthembu, died on May 16 after falling ill.
Image: File
THE KwaDukuza Magistrates Court will today hear arguments concerning a family dispute which led to the postponement of the funeral of a councillor on Saturday.
Sebenzile Sibiya, née Mthembu, died on May 16 after falling ill. She was a proportional representative councillor of Lindelani, KwaDukuza, in the North Coast. The postponement was caused by a disagreement between the Mthembu family and the Sibiyas.
It is alleged that even though she had a house in Lindelani, KwaDukuza, which she shared with her late husband, who died in 2021, she had another house in Gingindlovu.
It was at her Gingindlovu home where she performed her family functions and rituals and where her husband is buried.
According to a Sibiya relative who spoke on condition of anonymity, they overlooked the dispute on May 17, a day after the PR councillor died, when they discovered the Mthembu family occupying the Lindelani property.
The relative said things got a little heated when the Mthembu family said the funeral service will be held in Lindelani and the burial will be in Gingindlovu.
"The brother of her late husband, who was handling the Sibiya estate, was irritated by that. He said the deceased was a married woman and the Mthembu family shouldn't be at the forefront of the funeral arrangements. He stood up and left after it was clear that they were not reaching any agreement with the Mthembus," said the relative.
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The relative said one of the Sibiya family members told the Mthembus that if they wanted her to be buried in Lindelani, they should have asked and not dictated to them.
"They ended up saying they are putting in a request to the late husband's brother for her to be buried in Lindelani. The reply was that they will get feedback once the Sibiya family has sat down for a meeting to discuss their request."
After the Sibiya meeting, it is alleged that the family agreed that her funeral service would take place in Lindelani and she would be buried in Gingindlovu, next to her husband.
"We thought we had a deal, but armed men came and said the Mthembus sent them to say the deceased will be buried in Lindelani because they can't afford to take her to Gingindlovu," said the relative.
The Sibiya family then approached the Mthembus to get the deceased's documents to handle her funeral themselves, and the Mthembus refused, said the relative.
"They refused. We ended up going to the induna, who tried to intervene but was unsuccessful," said the relative.
Then, on Thursday last week, they approached the court to get an interdict which effectively blocked the Mthembus from proceeding with the funeral. The court order was served to the funeral parlour on Friday.
When the court order was served on the Mthembus, they refused to sign it. The Mthembus proceeded with the funeral service on Saturday, which forced the Sibiya to seek police intervention so that they would investigate if the funeral parlour released Sebenzile's remains.
They discovered that the funeral service was proceeding without the deceased's corpse. After the service, the mourners had lunch and dispersed when it was clear that there would be no burial.
There was no dispute between the deceased and the Sibiya family except for the late husband's children from a previous relationship and the deceased over their late father's estate, according to the relative.
The induna, Pinky Ndunakazi, confirmed that the matter was brought to her by the Sibiya family last week.
"They explained that they have a problem with the Mthembu family, who have turned on them, refusing to allow the deceased to be buried in Gingindlovu," said Ndunakazi.
Ndunakazi said she asked indunas from nearby villages to accompany her to hear the side of the Mthembu family.
"We found the wife of the deceased's brother, who said her husband was the one who was supposed to speak on behalf of the family but was not around," said Ndunakazi.
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