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IOL News
2 days ago
- General
- IOL News
Postponed funeral of councillor to go ahead after court ruling
THE former proportional representative councillor of Lindelani, KwaDukuza, Sebenzile Sibiya whose postponed funeral was the centre of a dispute between her in-laws and her maiden family following her death on May 16. Image: Supplied A FAMILY in KwaZulu-Natal North Coast is relieved that the Durban High Court ruled in its favour to grant them the right to bury their daughter-in-law after her maiden family held a bogus funeral service while her corpse was at a funeral parlour. Sebenzile Sibiya, née Mthembu, died on May 16 after she fell ill. She was a proportional representative councillor of Lindelani, KwaDukuza, in the North Coast. Her funeral was postponed after her maiden family, the Mthembus, wanted to bury her. Her in-laws approached a local induna, Pinky Ndunakazi, to intervene after negotiations between the two families reached a stalemate. Her interventions were scuppered after the Mthembus ignored her when she visited the family accompanied by izinduna from nearby villages. "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. When Ndunakazi asked for her husband's number, she refused and said she would rather take her details and give it to her husband to call her back. "I left my number, but he didn't call. Then the Sibiya family ended up approaching the court," said Ndunakazi. At the centre of the dispute was where she would be buried. The Mthembus preferred Lindelani, in KwaDukuza, but the Sibiyas insisted on Gingindlovu, where the deceased's husband, who died in 2021, is buried. The couple also had a house in Gingindlovu but spent most of the time in Lindelani, where Sebenzile was a PR councillor. 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. 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. Gunmen burst in and said they were sent by the Mthembus to tell the Sibiyas that the funeral and burial would be in Lindelani. Then on May 22, the Sibiyas approached the Durban High Court to seek an interdict against the Mthembus and the funeral parlour, barring them from proceeding with the funeral. The funeral parlour was served with the interdict on the following day, as well as the Mthembus, who refused to sign the court order. The Mthembus continued with their sham funeral in the presence of the police, who ensured that the funeral parlour didn't release the corpse per court order. Last Thursday the Durban High Court ruled in favour of the Sibiyas. "We are just relieved that we will now proceed with funeral preparations and bury her in a dignified manner," said a Sibiya family member. The Sibiyas said they don't believe the Mthembus would attend the funeral service on Saturday, as they had already had theirs on May 24. Numerous attempts to get comment from the Mthembu family via texts and calls were unsuccessful, as the phone of the brother of the deceased rang unanswered. SUNDAY TRIBUNE
IOL News
29-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
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. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ 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.
