Slain Mozambican national remembered in Alex
ALEXANDRA - Community members, church delegates, and members of the press gathered in their numbers for the memorial service of Emmanuel Jossias (Emmanuel Sithole) at East Bank Community Hall.
The Mozambican national was stabbed during a time of xenophobic unrest in the township.
Among those in attendance at the memorial service were Graca Machel, the former Mozambican first lady and wife of former President Nelson Mandela, Fernando Fazenda, the Mozambican High Commissioner, and Parks Tau, Johannesburg’s Executive Mayor.
Machel gave a moving speech during the service.
“We are in deep pain; we have nurtured hatred,” she said.
“When we became free, we did not take time to look at what has been done to us. Tomorrow, this anger will be against fellow South Africans.”
On 30 April in Soweto at 7am, there will be a short devotion before Jossias’ body is taken 1700km to his home in Mozambique.
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) sent a message to the Mozambique Council of Churches, stating that the body will be handed over at the border, which is about 900km from the destination.
The memorial service was held by the SACC, together with the city council.
