AFTER he could not save the life of Alunge Zonele (9) who drowned in a dam in Driftsands on 20 September, Bonga Mazibuko (17) has been struggling to sleep.
He said sometimes he felt like he should have died with him because the incident haunted him. What made it worse was the fact that he didn’t have money to go to the young boy’s funeral because his mother Lettie Mazibuko (53) couldn’t afford it.
After Daily Sun published the story, a well-wisher, sangoma Phindile Mtonga, came forward and gave Bonga R1200 to travel to and from Willowvale area in the Eastern Cape.
Speaking to the SunTeam after getting the money, Bonga’s mother Lettie said attending the funeral would give him some closure.
Alunge was buried on Saturday, 1 October, and Bonga managed to attend the funeral and he has indeed found closure that Alunge is no more. “It was not easy to be at the funeral, but I had to attend it. I faced my fears. At first I didn’t want to be around people talking about Alunge, but at the funeral everyone was talking about him. I cried a lot and now I feel better,” he said.
Lettie said the incident devastated her son and she was happy that he went to the funeral.
“I don’t know how it was going to be like if he didn’t see the coffin of Alunge going down. I hope he will sleep from now. He used to be awake all night and only sleep in the morning,” she said.
Mtonga said: “I know how he is feeling. I was in a similar situation some time back. I fortunately managed to save someone who was drowning and for Bonga, it didn’t happen,” he said.
He said when he read about Bonga’s story and that he was struggling to sleep, he felt the need to help.
