"WE'RE now unemployed and are without jobs."
This was said by Thandeka Xesha at the funeral service of her brother-in-law, Dr Michael "Dr Mike" Isabelle.
Dr Mike died after he was shot at his surgery in Dobsonville, Soweto on 26 February.
She described the doctor as a loving man.
"I met doctor three decades ago when my sister brought him home. He has been my boss since 1997. My sister lost a husband. I also lost a husband; he was my husband at work."
She revealed that a few years ago the doctor wanted to get a firearm because he was scared for his life.
"He always said Thandeka, Dobsonville people will kill me. He said it many times, especially after he was looted. He would say that Dobsonville people are cruel. He would say he fears the dark and confined spaces," she said.
She said she had written a statement to support the doctor’s request to be granted a licence to own a firearm.
“Every year we would submit the same letter while we only changed dates,” she further said.
Sipho Phenyane sobbingly said that he never thought that he'd be the one to bury his brother Mike.
“I always thought he'd be the one to bury us. It's so painful. No one will close the gap he has left in our hearts. He did everything for everyone including the community, but at the end they killed him in this manner. It pains us. He died a painful death,” Sipho said.
Thandeka Isabelle said Dr Mike was more than a brother to her.
His widow Lindelwa Isabelle said: “He was very generous and kind. Mike was shot in 1995 after he had started working in Katlehong. When he was shot, he was with a patient in his room. The bullet went through his wrist into his stomach, and that bullet was never removed. The three that killed him this time around went in and out, the one that hit him in 1995 is still in his body.”
She said in 2021, his surgery was looted and after that her husband was never the same.
Different speakers described the doctor as a selfless person, who would do anything for the community of Dobsonville, his family and extended family.
The doctor was laid to rest on Tuesday, 5 March at the Nasrec Memorial Park.
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