{"id":47129,"date":"2021-09-24T19:53:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T17:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=47129"},"modified":"2021-09-24T19:18:05","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T17:18:05","slug":"my-humble-calm-husband-i-am-going-to-miss-you-wife-of-late-joburg-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/my-humble-calm-husband-i-am-going-to-miss-you-wife-of-late-joburg-mayor","title":{"rendered":"\u2018My Humble, Calm Husband \u2026 I Am going To Miss You\u2019 \u2013 Wife Of Late Joburg Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\">Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span><b>TimesLIVE<\/b> &#8211; THE heartbreaking sobs of Kedibone Matongo filled the Finetown hall in Johannesburg on Friday as her moving tribute to her late husband, executive mayor Jolidee Matongo, was read out at his funeral.<\/p>\n<p>Government ministers, mayors, Gauteng MECs, premier David Makhura, high-ranking ANC members, friends and family gathered to pay their final respects to Matongo, 46, who died in a horrific crash on the Golden Highway near Soweto last Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The accident also claimed the lives of Lenasia electrician Sagel Singh, 23, and a still unidentified pedestrian.<\/p>\n<p>Matongo\u2019s driver and bodyguard \u2014 both seriously injured in the crash \u2014 are recovering in hospital.<\/p>\n<p>A rendition of Endless Love, by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey, was played as part of Kedibone\u2019s tribute before her heartfelt message was readout.<\/p>\n<p>In her tribute, read out by Mpho Motsepe, Kedibone said: \u201cNever in a million years would I have thought I would be in this position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a very bitter pill to swallow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said they met while she was in high school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy birthday anniversary will never be the same again because you always ensured that these days were celebrated and given the prominence they deserved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn our wedding day, you said we are selling our freedom on Freedom Day. I am grateful for the love you have given me and our son. You are truly a unique breed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn Sunday when I returned from viewing your lifeless body I prayed. Prayer turned into what felt like a conversation with you.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat conversation took place at 3 am in the morning, I soaked in a bath and felt a load on my shoulders taken off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy humble calm, husband who always had a smile on his face. The pain that I am feeling now, I don\u2019t know how and when it will subside but I will hold onto your mantra: God will provide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to miss you. Your smile would keep me going. Now I must adjust to being a mum and a dad to our son.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A message from Matongo\u2019s son was also readout.<\/p>\n<p>Jacob Khawe, a close friend of Matongo and ANC provincial secretary in Gauteng, described his death as an \u201cimmeasurable loss\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe gap that has been left by the departure of this magnificent spirit will soon enough be felt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur paths first crossed in 1988. During all these years since our lives have been intertwined. We shared the joy of being young, the pain of poverty, the teachings of the SA revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Khawe said they were \u201cfriends for life\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew you when you were happy and not happy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw you fall in love for the first time. I saw when you had your first child. I saw you commit yourself to the student struggle and the youth of our country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw you when you went to church and how I thought you would live to bury me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw you in that car on September 18. I held you, I called you. You never responded and I knew it was the end of our journey,\u201d said Khawe.<\/p>\n<p>ANC treasurer general Paul Mashatile also addressed mourners saying the pain of Matongo\u2019s death \u201cstill cuts deep\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt deeply pains us that our beloved comrade Joli is no more. It deeply pains us that he has left us too soon while we were expecting so much more from him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo many of us it is finally dawning that our gentle giant \u2026 has departed for good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven in our deepest pain, we consider ourselves privileged that in comrade Jolidee we were in the company of so rare a jewel, who was a genuine friend, an activist to the core, a servant of the people and a well-rounded revolutionary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe counted him among the finest in our ranks. In him we saw a bright future for our country and our movement.<\/p>\n<p>Mashatile said Matongo was a \u201cchild of the movement, his second home and his life\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He said as mayor Matongo remained disciplined and loyal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCruel death has robbed us of boundless energy, his steadfastness, his professionalism and his never-die spirit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe always admired his warmth and compassion especially for the poor and marginalised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe took note of the work he did to advance the empowerment of women. We drew strength from his ability to serve the ANC not for personal glory nor distinction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will miss his passion for building an inclusive city of Johannesburg, working with everybody including opposition parties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe highest tribute and greatest monument we could ever build for comrade Joli is to redouble our efforts in our ongoing endeavour to renew, revive and rebuild an ethical ANC.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zimbabwe. TimesLIVE &#8211; THE heartbreaking sobs of Kedibone Matongo filled the Finetown hall in Johannesburg on Friday as her moving tribute to her late husband, executive mayor Jolidee Matongo, was read out at his funeral. Government ministers, mayors, Gauteng MECs, premier David Makhura, high-ranking ANC members, friends and family gathered to pay their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":47128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,12,15],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-47129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-homepage-english","9":"category-policy","10":"category-twitter","11":"tag-africa-press","12":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","13":"tag-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u2018My Humble, Calm Husband \u2026 I Am going To Miss You\u2019 \u2013 Wife Of Late Joburg Mayor - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TimesLIVE - 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