Durban - While the family of a woman who died in China last month would have preferred to receive hugs and kisses at the airport when she returned, they are grateful that her body will be coming home soon so that she can be given a funeral.
The body of Lusanda Lindokuhle Sixaxeni, 27, would be in the country this week.
Sixaxeni from Mossel Bay died on September 12, after being hospitalised for five days at a hospital in China. She had resigned from her teaching job and had bought her return ticket to South Africa, but fell ill.
Last week the Sunday Tribune reported that Sixaxeni’s family had managed to raise over R200 000 of the R400 000 required to repatriate her body. The family pleaded with the country to assist, since the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said it could not get involved.
Sixaxeni’s mother, Nomonde, said the family was in the process of finalising paperwork with the Chinese embassy. She said Lusanda’s funeral would likely take place on Saturday.
“The amount of R400 000 covered us until September 21. We will most likely pay more as after that date they started charging for keeping her daily so we are waiting for that final amount.
“We are still receiving donations, people are still supporting us and we are grateful,” she said.
Nomonde said the past few weeks had been challenging for the family, but they have had to continue focusing on the efforts to bring her daughter back to avoid her body being cremated.
“I am happy that she will no longer be cremated. They told me how her body would be preserved until she gets back. Our culture does not allow us to cremate and now she will be coming back,” she said.
Nomonde said she was not yet ready to share on the pain inflicted by the government’s decision on her family. She expressed gratitude to those who contributed financially.
“I will also be in a position to fully open my heart about this experience once we have laid her to rest. I was told by the government that there was no budget to help bring my daughter back, but we saw this week how the German tourist who was killed at Kruger National Park was prioritised.
“Had there been enough jobs, our children would not be looking for job opportunities overseas. My daughter is a graduate and I used my hard earned cash to put her through school, since I did not qualify to receive assistance from NSFAS,” she said.
Meanwhile, the struggle to repatriate the body of Siphosethu Mqokozo from the Eastern Cape, continues.
The 30-year-old also died in China two weeks ago after allegedly suffering a panic attack. Her family needed to raise at least R300 000 to bring her body back, but they have only been able to raise R7 000.
Mqokozo’s sister, Zandile, said everything was at a standstill and that they were awaiting to hear from the authorities in China tomorrow.
“We have tried everything, local businesses, we spoke on local radio stations but we are not getting the help we need.
“We are relying on my sister’s colleagues to assist us with communicating with Chinese officials, but we do not want to think about the country cremating her. We are so desperate for help,” she said.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE