Moving tributes as Gugu Zulu laid to rest

Gugu Zulu is laid to rest. Hi Funeral service was held at Rhema church in Randburg and later he was laid to rest at Wespark Cemetery , JHB. Picture: Antoine de Ras, 28/07/2016

Gugu Zulu is laid to rest. Hi Funeral service was held at Rhema church in Randburg and later he was laid to rest at Wespark Cemetery , JHB. Picture: Antoine de Ras, 28/07/2016

Published Jul 29, 2016

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Johannesburg - Her hands rested gently on the South African flag-draped coffin carrying her husband, racing driver Gugu Zulu.

From the time the congregation gathered at the Rhema Church in Randburg to honour her late husband’s life, and when she later stood to follow the clergy in the procession out of the church, Letshego Zulu’s hands stayed on him.

As six Johannesburg Metro Police Department officers carried Zulu to a fire engine that would drive him to his final resting place at Westpark Cemetery on Thursday afternoon, his young wife’s hands didn’t move from the coffin.

Moments earlier, Letshego had delivered a heartfelt speech on the life and love she shared with her childhood sweetheart spanning more than 15 years.

Her final love letter to him was read out by her friend Sheila Akinnusi.

She made a moving plea, rousing applause from the congregants of Zulu’s family and friends, that a small medical centre should be built on Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania - where Zulu had been trying to summit with his wife when he fell gravely ill.

Zulu succumbed to his illness at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in the town of Moshi after being rushed there from the Kibo hut base camp hours before he was to summit Uhuru Peak - the highest peak in Africa.

Thursday marked two weeks since he entered the Kilimanjaro National Park with a group of hikers who had set out to raise funds for sanitary pads for underprivileged girls. He was 38.

‘I’m going back’

In her plea, Letshego’s soft voice turned resolute and stern.

“I’m going back to the mountain; I’m going to Uhuru Peak and I will fly the 'adventure couple' flag high. I think all of us must come together to erect a mini-medical facility specifically at Horombo hut, where I saw his biggest smile.

“A small facility that can be manned by one doctor a week because many people suffer altitude sickness. I plead with those in power to hold hands and do what he would have wanted done to prevent deaths,” Letshego said.

The funeral service had the pomp and ceremony of a state event. The JMPD saluted Zulu's coffin, and renowned musicians such as Loyiso Bala and Joyous Celebration as well as the JMPD choir sang touching ballads in tribute.

Gauteng premier David Makhura, Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau, sports minister Fikile Mbalula, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and retired Anglican bishop and former Robben Island prisoner Njongonkulu Ndungane were in attendance.

Makhura said Zulu had been given a civic funeral by the City of Johannesburg not because he was famous, but because of his contribution to bettering the lives of its people.

The Star

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