Mboweni’s death wish after Mbeki excluded from funeral sparks row

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office has denied it was behind the removal of former president Thabo Mbeki’s name from a list of speakers at the funeral of former finance minister Tito Mboweni at the weekend.

It is understood that hours before he died, Mboweni called his family to inform them that Mbeki and former ANC minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi should be among speakers at his funeral.

But Mboweni’s death wish was not fulfilled after Mbeki’s name was removed at the last moment in an apparent snub, although the family had put the name on the draft programme submitted to the state.

Mboweni’s death wish not fulfilled

An ANC source blamed the Presidency yesterday, saying this was deliberate because they feared Mbeki would steal the limelight from Ramaphosa.

Mbeki, after being told by the family that he would be required to speak as Mboweni had wished, prepared his tribute to the former minister. But when he arrived at the funeral service, held at Nkowankowa Stadium in Limpopo, he found his name had been removed from the list.

The family was annoyed by this and apologised profusely to Mbeki for the omission and urged him to speak anyway.

ALSO READ: Mbeki snubbed at Mboweni’s funeral despite late minister’s wishes [VIDEO]

But Mbeki declined, saying his name might have been removed for a reason.

Later, Mbeki recorded a video of his tribute to Mboweni which he posted on the Thabo Mbeki Foundation website.

In the video, he stated the minister would have wished him to speak at his funeral.

Watch Mbeki’s tribute to his friend Mboweni:

[WATCH] The Thabo Mbeki Foundation has confirmed that the former president was snubbed from speaking at former finance minister Tito Mboweni's funeral on Saturday last week. According to the foundation, Mboweni's family approached the former president with a special request. They… pic.twitter.com/GY7ZC0OJpP

— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) October 22, 2024

Video tribute after being snubbed

Asked about the removal of Mbeki’s name and those of others, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said: “Out of the deepest respect for the departed former minister of finance, Dr Tito Mboweni and his family, and out of respect for our former president Thabo Mbeki, the Presidency will not be party to a public spat on the funeral arrangements and programme. With that said, there was no designated speaker that was prevented from addressing mourners on the day.”

According to a frustrated ANC insider, who did not want to be named, the Mboweni family was not consulted before Mbeki’s name was removed from the funeral service programme by the state.

The family had submitted the programme to the government with all the names of people that were to be speakers, including family speakers, Mbeki, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, a close friend of Mboweni and King Letsie III of Lesotho.

ALSO READ: ‘Don’t let the tin fish confuse you, Tito Mboweni had style,’ says Malema [WATCH]

It’s believed that Mboweni wanted the Lesotho monarch to also speak as a gesture of gratitude and acknowledgment for obtaining his degree at National University of Lesotho in Roma.

According to another source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, the first, second and third times the programme was returned to the family from the government, it included all the names, including that of Mbeki.

But the family was surprised when it noticed the programme distributed at the church service and at the funeral excluded Mbeki, Kagame and King Letsie III.

Mbeki, Kagame and King Letsie III excluded from programme

A family member said even senior members of the Mboweni family were removed from the list, which was against the African cultural practice for an elder brother or sister to pay tribute to their departed sibling.

“Why did they do that to Tito? A death wish is a death wish. It must be fulfilled. Tito was very close to Mbeki and he knew why he wanted him to address his funeral. They were together in exile and they were ANC economists. The entire Mboweni family is hurting over this insult,” the family member said.

It is understood that the ANC is planning a memorial service for Mboweni next week on a date yet to be announced.

ALSO READ: Tito Mboweni’s funeral: He wasn’t just incorruptible but also humble