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The coffin of Ndivhudzannyi is taken to the gravesite by fellow pupils.

Sombre funeral for Thase Secondary pupil

 

The mood was sombre and very emotional, with many crying openly and others fainting.

This was during the funeral service of Ms Ndivhudzannyi Mavhanga, the 21-year-old from Thase Secondary School, who committed suicide last week. See our report on the front page.

The  Grade 10 girl from Ha-Muraga outside Thohoyandou had just found out that she had failed her end-of-year examinations when she hanged herself in the family's house.

On Sunday, the whole village, including local traditional leader Chief Ntikedzeni Muraga and his headmen, Luvuvhu circuit manager Mr Mboneni Rambani, pastors and fellow pupils from Thase and educators came together to give her a dignified sendoff.

The funeral service followed a memorial service held at the girl's home on Saturday.

Speakers at the funeral eulogised the young woman as a very dedicated pupil who participated in many activities at school and at home.

Speaking during the funeral, her mentor in Tshivenda traditional dancing, Ms Tondani  Tshitokisi of the Ntikedzeni Muraga Cultural Group, of which the deceased was a member, described the young woman as a keen and talented dancer who never missed training sessions. "Her talent was so immense that she gained a role in the famous SABC 2 soapie Muvhango and the part is still to be flighted. We have lost a great talent and we will dearly miss her as a team."

Family spokesperson Shumani Mukwevho said the death had shocked the family to the core. "Ndivhudzannyi was a good girl who, despite her poor background, was determined to succed in life. She was dedicated to her school work and we fail to understand why she had to take her own life in that way. What adds more pain to us as family is that we are still mourning the deaths of three other members who passed on in recent times."

He said that they were very sad but drew solace from the support they were getting from the community Chief Ntikedzeni Muraga, "who has been with us since the incident happened."

The girl's close friend, Ms Rabelani Mudau, said Ndivhudzannyi's death had shaken them to the core as friends as she had not given them any indication that she had had a problem. Luvuvhu circuit manager Mr Mboneni Rambani mentioned that the department had support systems to help those with challenges. He urged all to seek help whenever confronted with problems.

Addressing the mourners, Chief Ntikedzeni Muraga said the girl had run her full race and that it was time for her to depart from this world. "In this type of situation, we should all understand failure in order to cope. Ndivhudzannyi has run her full race and she achieved so much in her short life. We should not ask ourselves questions as to why it happened because we will not get the answers," he said.

Muraga further appealed to the community to confide and share whatever challenges they had with close relatives and friends in order to avert similar situations.

News - Date: 18 December 2017

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Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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