Families struggle to come to terms with loss of loved ones

• Published date: 21 April 2024
• Author: Zama Ngcoya
• Publication title: Sunday Tribune

Sihle Lutango, Ntando Jiyana and Inam Mnqayi were in a vehicle returning to their homes on the South Coast after watching a soccer match in Durban. It is understood that they drowned when the vehicle was washed away by the flood

Lutango’s grandmother Nondenile, 68, said the 30-year-old medical doctor was the breadwinner of the family.

Lutango, from Port St Johns, who had relocated to KwaZulu-Natal due to work, was found dead inside his vehicle with his cousin and a friend.

Nondenile Lutango described her grandson as a soccer fanatic who was loving, hard-working and loved to laugh.

“When you are old, you expect to be buried by your children, but now it will be the other way around.

“Sihle was such a sweetheart. He always put his family first and made sure that we were taken care of since he was the breadwinner at home and was in the process of finishing the renovations at our home,” she said.

He will be laid to rest at his home in Port St Johns on May 4. He leaves his grandmother, mother, three siblings and his four-year-old son.

Anderson Jiyana said his son Ntando, 31, from Bizana in the Eastern Cape, was a staunch Christian.

“He was our first son and we loved him a lot. He was very disciplined, loved God and he respected everyone,” he said.

Jiyana was laid to rest in Bizana yesterday. He leaves his parents and five siblings.

Lungakazi Mnqayi said she and her family were still struggling to accept the death of her sister, Inam.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of our sister. Our hearts have not accepted that she is truly no more because she was still very young, only 24, and she was still a student. Even the way that she passed is too...