THE WIDOW refused to open the coffin, but the family insisted.
When they unscrewed the lid the coffin was empty.
AND THE WIDOW HAD A SHOCKING CONFESSION TO MAKE!
“I cremated my husband’s body. It is what he wanted,” she said.
It appears Charles’ widow, Joyce Mashaba, was hoping she could hide the details of the cremation, in an effort to please both her late husband and his family.
But on Friday night, the men of the family, mostly his nephews and brothers, stormed into his bedroom where Joyce was seated on a mattress next to his coffin. That’s when they took off the lid.
This explained why the widow and her children were refusing to let the dead man’s mother and his family view the body.
Charles’ elderly mother, Maria (75), from GaMagongwa outside Mokopane, Limpopo said: “I stay three houses away from my son but no one told me about the accident. When I saw his wrecked car being dragged into his garage I found out he was dead.”
She claimed no one told anyone in her family about the cremation.
“If he was cremated, where are his ashes and why was I not part of the process?” asked gogo Maria.
She claimed she didn’t even know which hospital her son was in after the crash.
“My daughter-in-law and I got along well. I don’t know why she is suddenly fighting with me. All I want is to know where my son’s body is. Burying an empty coffin is bad luck and I won’t it let happen.”
Joyce’s son, Samuel Mashaba, threatened the SunTeam with violence and would not let them talk to her. Joyce wouldn’t take the SunTeam’s calls.
The police were called to restore order to the Mashaba household as the family tried to force the funeral parlour to take the coffin away. No case was opened.
Villagers ate the food cooked for the funeral before going home – without burying their neighbour. A woman, known only as Portia, from the funeral parlour told Daily Sun she couldn’t comment without the widow’s permission..
