Student doctor, Mthunzi Wiseman Zwane (26) was laid to rest in Elukwatini in Mpumalanga on Saturday. His death comes after being stabbed to death earlier in July and is body being discovered at a nearby river, a few days later.
Zwane studied medicine in Cuba and was expected to graduate in November this year.
Watch: Slain medical student laid to rest
Country deprived
The Deputy Minister of Health, Sibongiseni Dhlomo, says the brutal murder of Zwane has deprived the country of a much-needed health care practitioner as the country was expecting a lot from him.
He adds saying that he was going to break the chain of poverty in his own family which now no longer possible.
Dhlomo reiterates, “When doctors complete and start working between the ages of 25-27, we still get about 50 more of life and of investment. When we invest in the life of a young person like this one, we actually look forward to 50 more years of service to the country- which now we won’t have.”
Watch: Deputy Health minister Sibongiseni Dhlomo at the funeral service of the late Mthunzi Zwane
Family, friends and fellow medical students said their final goodbyes to Zwane who was was robbed and stabbed multiple times. The family of the slain student is still grappling with their their loss. His father, Jabulani Zwane, says he was hoping that his son would rescue the family from poverty.
Painful
He adds, “Although it won’t bring Wiseman back, but if the law can play its role and maybe arrest those people; we don’t think any sentence will heal us, it’s a very great loss to us and it is really very painful.”
Zwane’s friends described him as humble, respectful and dedicated to his future. Vusi Shabangu says they stayed together while studying medicine in Cuba and refers to Zwane as a soldier.
“We went to the same university, so when we received the news we were very heated because we started calling each other when he went missing on Saturday. We started looking for him, calling our friends to see if they had seen him. So we are very hurt, not only here in South Africa, but even our friends in Angola and Cuba.” explains Shabangu.
The police say they have arrested 4 other suspects, bringing the total number of suspects arrested for Zwane’s murder to 6.
National Police Commissioner, Fannie Masemola, has urged communities to report criminal activities.
Masemola adds, “We ask the communities to work with the police because they are the ones to see this thing happening. They must report them to the police so that we can make sure that these criminals are put where they belong.”
The four suspects are expected to appear in court soon.
