Johannesburg - Three little girls, aged between three and eight, shed tears as they sat on the wooden floor with their mother.
They hugged their grieving mother while their 12-year-old brother sat on a chair, comforted by relatives.
The children were among hundreds at the Vereeniging Town Hall commemorating the killing of their policeman father, Warrant Officer Mongane Moagi, and his colleague, Constable Daniel Tshakela.
The two officers were responding to a hijacking in Korhaan Street, Solan Park, on Saturday night when three men shot and killed them.
Among the mourners were Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko and deputy provincial police commissioner Major-General Phumzo Gela.
Emotions ran high inside the hall. Colleagues, families and relatives burst into tears as speakers delivered their speeches.
“My mother doesn’t have a son, my sister-in-law won’t see her husband again, we don’t have a brother and his children will never feel his presence. May God help these grieving families and police officers to have those men arrested,” said Moagi’s elder sister, Mothusi Lebona.
She said the family were still mourning the death of her father, who died in June. “We had thought Mongane would pick up the pieces and carry this family as a father.”
Moketa Mohapi described his cousin Tshakela as a young active man who had dreams of uplifting his family.
The Star