About 2,000 people gathered in Bulawayo on Tuesday for the funeral of a Zimbabwean woman and her two daughters who were murdered in their home in Britain last month.
Police discovered the bodies of Nothabo Zandile Tshuma, 15-year-old Natalie and 5-year-old Nala at their home north of London, after their family reported they could not reach them.
After fleeing the UK, Zimbabwe-born Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma was arrested in South Africa on 10 July on suspicion of murdering his wife and two children.
He remains in custody there as the authorities consider a request to extradite him.
An inquest into their deaths conducted in Britain found that Nothabo and her daughters had died from blunt force trauma.
Their coffins were draped in white for the funeral service, which was at times tense with representatives of both of the couple’s families present.
The bodies arrived in Bulawayo on Monday evening, with the burial bringing an end to weeks of grief for both the Khumalo and Tshuma families.
Theophilus Khumalo, a member of the Khumalo family, said they **“**stand firm in our commitment to the truth, to justice, and dignity”.
“We will allow the law to take its course, we will not be drawn into anger or bitterness,” he said at the funeral.
“We will not allow this tragedy to define us, instead we choose to honour their memory with grace, unity and unwavering faith in God’s justice and God’s comfort.”
The coffins of Ndodana and her children were draped in white for the service, which was tense at times as representatives of both of the couple’s families were present.
Their funeral service was attended by the mayor of Bulawayo, David Coltart, who spoke about the “unspeakable grief” of the moment.
“The thought of burying a child is bad enough, but the thought of burying grandchildren is beyond my comprehension and I am sure that we all felt that today, ” he said.
As the three coffins were lowered into their graves, mourners sang hymns in an emotional farewell.
