Durban - The murderous and criminal acts of one of South Africa’s most infamous criminals, Ananias Mathe, are haunting his struggling family back home in Mozambique, who want his victims to forgive him.
This was revealed by Mathe’s first wife, Elizabeth Mathonsi, who spoke to the Sunday Tribune as the family tried to come to grips with his death.
“I feel sorry for his victims, his acts were brutal and unforgivable,” she said.
“I wish they could find it in themselves to forgive him, including his children.”
Mathe, 41, who had two wives, Elizabeth, 36, and Celeste Manate, 32, is survived by seven children aged between 10 and 21, including Ananias Mathe jr, 17, who was upset at his father and had fallen ill after learning of his father's death.
Mathe sr is also survived by his mother, Sasira, 72.
Ananias jr, unlike some of his younger brothers, had met his father only briefly when he was young.
The criminal died at Durban’s King Edward VIII Hospital on Tuesday after becoming ill more than a month ago.
Mathe was first treated at the Correctional Service facilities in the “super-max” Ebongweni Prison in Kokstad, where he was serving a 54-year-sentence for 64 charges, including murder, housebreaking, rape and robbery.
His family were expected to arrive in Durban late yesterday to recover his body.
Elizabeth decried her husband's criminal acts and said they had thought he was working, like other Mozambican migrants.
It was only when the SAPS paid a visit to their home in Mozambique while looking for Mathe, who was on the run, that they found out about his life of crime, she said.
She described him as a secretive man.
“I never knew where he was working; it was hard to find out since he was working far from home. I thought he was working like other men.
“I was surprised in early 2003 when police from Pretoria visited our home twice, searching for him. After that, news spread all over that he was a wanted and dangerous man,” she said.
Elizabeth said Mathe was the only surviving son in his clan and largely had been responsible for the family upkeep.
Elizabeth said Mathe’s death was a “good lesson” to his six sons to not lead a life of crime, although four of them had never met him.
“As the family, we are not proud of the life Ananias lived, but for the sake of his children, who never knew him and who persistently ask ‘when is daddy coming home’, we want his body back home.
“Life has been tough since his arrest, we have no income, none of his kids attend school. I will have to borrow money to fetch his body and for the funeral service,” she said.
She said they had had little communication with Mathe since his conviction in 2005, but last spoke to him in October after his last failed prison break.
“He told me that he tried again to escape because the officials were not providing enough food and he wanted money from me,” she said.
“He made allegations that prison officials wanted to poison him because he was troublesome. I told him to obey the rules because he might be granted parole.
“That was the last conversation I had with him until Tuesday when I received the news that he was no more,” she said.
Mathe’s death came as a shock to his family as they did not know that he was ill.
“It was hard to pass on the sad news to the kids,” she said.