Hon House
Chairperson, Chief Whip of the Majority Party, leaders of the various parties in the House, the Hlongwa family...
IsiXhosa:
... siyanihlonipha nonke kwaye siyavuya ukuba nibe nilapha.
English:
Death is a strange thing because it brings about anxiety, sorrow, emotional pain but it can also be a source of celebration. In the case of Bavelile Hlongwa we should celebrate life that has been lived to the
fullest. Young as she was, she has shown her ability to the world and therefore it is nice to celebrate. One person said to me that she was very young. I worked with her and I asked this Christian how old was Jesus Christ when he passed on? They answered that he was 33 years old and I said he was younger than Bavelile. So, Bavelile at 38 had lived life to the fullest therefore it is worth for us to celebrate her life.
It was Friday 13 September in the evening when Bavelile met her untimely death. She stopped to help other people who were in an accident and a truck ran over her and two others in the same accident. As a soldier, we need to celebrate that because she died in her boots and left us too soon. As a department, we are enjoying her vibrancy and her energy. She was full of energy and very vibrant. Every time she opens her mouth you could not doubt the content and we loved her uprightness which was unique and empowering.
Her liking to speak in areas where she was knowledgeable she would describe herself as the engineer in her refusing to agree. When she disagrees with you...
IsiXhosa:
Mama uNkosazana, uza kuhlala emadevini. Xa ekuhlala emadevini uthetha uthetha...
English:
... and then you will have to tell her to cool off. Her keenness to be part of the solution to challenges facing government was quite exciting. I would imagine that my Cabinet colleagues would remember the Cabinet meeting of that week. In that meeting she spoke, refused to be suppressed and expressed her views non-stop. That is Bavelile for you.
I can assure you that women, children and people with disabilities have lost an ambassador. On every discussion she would factor in the cause of women, young people and the cause of people with disabilities. I hope we would discover more who would stand for that cause. I always describe her as having madness like me because I am a little mad sometimes.