Pretoria - Hundreds of mourners filed into the Tshwane Events Centre in Pretoria on Thursday for the memorial service of former public service and administration minister Collins Chabane.
Chabane and his bodyguards Sergeants Lesiba Sekele and Lawrence Lentsoane were killed on Sunday morning when a truck allegedly made a U-turn in front of their car on the N1 between Mokopane and Polokwane in Limpopo.
Hours before Chabane's memorial service, friends and family paid tribute to Sekele and Lentsoane.
Among those present were Chabane's wife Mavis Chabane, first lady Bongi Ngema-Zuma, Deputy Minister of Police Makhotso Sotyu and members of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU), .
Sotyu said the two officers were more than just VIP protection but they had also become brothers and part of Chabane's family.
“Sekele used to love Ladysmith black Mambazo and it is that love of music that gave him something in common with the minister (Chabane) who was also a musician,” she said.
“Lentsoane is a shining of an example of someone who never let their circumstances define who he was considering he came from a poor background,” said Sotyu.
Family could barely hold back their tears as they listened to friends talking of how both officers knew serving in the SAPS was more than a career.
The funeral arrangements of the two were being handled by the SAPS as they died in the line of duty.
The presidency announced on Tuesday that Chabane would receive a category one official funeral at the weekend.
“The minister will be accorded an official funeral,” spokesperson Mac Maharaj said in a statement.
President Jacob Zuma ordered that the national flag be flown at half-mast across the country on Saturday, the day of the funeral.
Ahead of Chabane’s memorial service on Thursday, a hall at Tshwane Events Centre was adorned with black and white material, while Chabane's photograph was displayed on big screens near the stage and podium.
Many people wore yellow African National Congress T-shirts proclaiming “Decade of the cadre”, while others were dressed in green and black ANC Women's League regalia.
Several speakers, including SA Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago, musician Don Laka, family representative Matimba Chabane, and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa are expected to deliver eulogies.
Sapa and Pretoria News