Sombre mood as murdered Tshegofatso Pule laid to rest
"Unlike Covid-19 an invisible enemy, the boys and the man who commit fermicide are not invisible you can fight and win the struggle against gender based violence," - Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
Update: June 11, 2020 @ 17:51
Tshegofatso Pule suffered a gruesome death but she will suffer no-more as she was laid to rest today in her final resting place at the Roodepoort cemetery.
It was indeed a short but a highly emotional send off. Tributes continued to pour as family and friends of ‘Mama baby Kamano ‘bid farewell to her in Meadowlands Zone 3.
Law enforcers came out in numbers to ensure that attendees of the ceremony adhere to the rules and regulations of the lockdown.
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Pule’s sister Mimi recalled her sisters exact words when she promised to be by her side through thick and thin but could not continue speaking as she could not contain her emotions.
Tshepiso Tshita spoke on behalf of all her friends she started by alluding that the past few days have been a nightmare and they struggle to come to term with what had happened.
https://twitter.com/SowetoUrban/status/1270983890472251392?s=20
Among the speakers was Economic Freedom Fighter’s spokesperson Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi who said during this time, it is difficult for people to support each other due to Covid_19. He added that everyone who breath knows that one can never get used to death.
Ndlozi said this is not just an ordinary death and the family shouldn’t mourn alone. He further urged community members to stand in their gates to honour and salute the hearse as it passes by on the way to the cemetery.
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He said police officers attended the service in numbers to see that the people do not break the law and inquired about their whereabouts when the deceased needed them the most.
“We don’t need them when we mourn, we need them to stop the mourning,” he said.
He urged women never to apologise for being a women because they have never done anything wrong.
“Only a coward hit a woman, only a coward rapes a woman and only a coward kills a woman, ” said Ndlozi.
Ndlozi emphasised that people who commit such tragic acts are not fathers or uncles but their cowards. He alluded that women were in the forefront on the liberation against apartheid and they can fight fermicide.
“Unlike Covid-19 an invisible enemy, the boys and the man who commit fermicide are not invisible you can fight and win the struggle against gender based violence.
” When a child or a women is missing the police should not tell people to wait for 48 hours before they act. How many people should die for them to realise that 48 hours is just too much,” said Ndlozi.
https://twitter.com/SowetoUrban/status/1271006495832977408?s=20
Among the attendees was the Gauteng Police general major Max Masha who clarified that the law has been amended and people do not have to wait for 48 hours for the police to start looking for the missing person.
Pule’s uncle Tumishang Katake who represented Sandile Mantsoe the murderer of Karabo Mokoena pledged during the funeral that he will never represent rapist, women murderers and child molesters because he now knows how Karabo’s family felt when they lost their daughter due to gender-based violence.
https://twitter.com/SowetoUrban/status/1271015976939773952?s=20
Her obituary was read and her aunt did a praise poet for her.
https://twitter.com/SowetoUrban/status/1271021527966855169?s=20
The funeral then proceeded to the cemetery to lay Pule to her last resting place.
Tshegofatso’s name is added to the list of many women who died in the hands of people who were supposed to protect them.
The Meadowlands community, family members and her friends want justice to prevail.
https://twitter.com/SowetoUrban/status/1271023217751310336?s=20
June 10, 2020 @ 23:05
‘Senzeni nah?’ that is the song that the family, friends and community members in Meadowlands Zone 3 sang as they honor the late Tshegofatso Pule during a candle light service. The song which was popularised during the apartheid regime begs the question What did we do? and now it was directed to the ongoing issue of Fermicide in South Africa.
Despite the fact that no gatherings are allowed due to the Global pandemic coronavirus where in South Africa memorial services are prohibited, more than 50 people gathered at KOL Cafe to pay their last respect to friend, neighbor and daughter. Pink, black and white was the theme of the day.
Attendees of the ceremony could not hold their tears back as the speakers who were given time to say something about the late, gave testimonies on how they knew Pule and how they were waiting to hold and meet her bundle of joy who was never given a chance to see the world.
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Candles were lit to honour the spirits and the lives of the deceased and her angel. A moment of silence was held and then the attendees walked to Pule’s home holding their lit candles.
Keneilwe Molefenyane and Gontse Mosopa were never ready to bid farewell to their childhood friend. Masopa’s poem to her friend and Molefenyane speech gave an insight of what kind of a person was Pule.
https://twitter.com/SowetoUrban/status/1270760877625610242?s=20
Pule’s aunt Neo Giwu said the very same hands that comforts young women are the very same hands that kill them.
Giwu extended her gratitude to the country at large for their undying support, words of comfort and for sympathising with them.
She urged people to stop spreading rumors and things that they are not sure of on social media platforms.
https://twitter.com/SowetoUrban/status/1270752739744759808?s=20
Pule was found hanging on the tree in Durban Deep, Roodepoort on Monday June 8. She was 8 months pregnant when her life and the life of her unborn baby were cut short.
The question of when will Fermicide end? still lingers in the minds of the mourning community, as they wish and pray for justice to prevail for Pule. #JusticeForTshego
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