What was supposed to be a glittering wedding ceremony turned out to be a sad funeral when a young engineer was buried on his wedding day. Londani Netshiungani (27) of Shayandima, outside Thohoyandou, was buried on Saturday, the day on which he was supposed to wed his childhood sweetheart, Shonisani Phupheli (23), of Tshavhalovhedzi Village, near Makhado.

Londani’s life was claimed by car accident at Groblesdal last weekend, when he was driving home to make final arrangements for his wedding. He worked as a mine overseer at Eyesizwe Mining Company at Middelburg, Mpumalanga. He was appointed to this position on May 1.

Thousands of mourners, including entrepreneur Cyril Ramaphosa, City Press Editor, Mathatha Tsedu, Speaker of the Limpopo Legislature, Dr Tshenuwani Farisani, and Vhembe District Municipality Executive Mayor, Irene Mutsila, paid tribute to the young engineer whose future looked bright. The mourners, who were supposed to celebrate the wedding, grieved and wailed uncontrollably when Londani was laid to rest at Shayandima graveyard.

Londani was born at Vhungwili, outside Thohoyandou, on 20 June, 1978. He was supposed to celebrate his 28th birthday tomorrow. He attended the primary school at Lurenzheni and later proceeded to Dimani Agricultural High School, where he matriculated in 1996. He registered at Wits Technikon, where he completed a Mining Engineering Diploma in 2004. He then passed his B Tech (Mining Engineering) at the University of Johannesburg in 2005. He started working in December 1998 as a practical trainee at Zululand Anthracite Collieries in Empangeni, until June 2000.

He then worked at Gloria Mines as a miner in 2003. He later worked for Xstratacoal SA from 2004 to 2005. He joined Eyesizwe Mining Company in June last year as an acting shift boss. He was then appointed as mine overseer, a position he held until his death on 10 June.

“It is a sad moment as I stand here before you at the funeral of this young man. I was supposed to be conducting a sermon during his wedding today. But we need to understand that God has His own plans which are totally different from those of man. Londani was planning for a wedding, not knowing that God was planning a funeral for him. The family should not take this a punishment from God because we have to be thankful for all that God does for us. It is heartbreaking to be among the mourners today while we were supposed to be in a celebratory mood at his wedding. To the bride to-be, this is a very difficult situation which you need to ask God to help you go through. It is one of the most painful experiences you have ever come across in life,” said Pastor Awelani Mamathoni of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Africa, during the funeral.

Londani’s grieving father, Itani, said: “I was still expecting many things from my late young and energetic son. He was the shining star of this family and we are now confused and hopeless. Our hopes are dashed because it is not easy to accept what happened. The wedding was finalized and everyone got an invitation card, but instead we are now conducting a funeral for him. We cannot understand why it happened this way.”

However, Itani said he was grateful for the support he was getting from the local community. “We have a lot of support from the public since the tragedy struck. We can at least gather some courage to go on with life, although it is not easy…”

The wordless grieving bride-to-be, Shonisani, could not also understand why it happened that way. She said she was looking forward to a happy wedding with her bridegroom-to-be. She wept uncontrollably when her bridegroom-to-be’s coffin was lowered ito the earth at Shayandima graveyard.