More than 200 students, staff members, friends and family gathered at a memorial service for Langalethu Hadebe at the Rhodes University Chapel of St Mary and All the Angels on Monday afternoon.
More than 200 students, staff members, friends and family gathered at a memorial service for Langalethu Hadebe at the Rhodes University Chapel of St Mary and All the Angels on Monday afternoon.
A third-year student majoring in politics and law, Hadebe died last Friday after a heart-attack. Reverend Glen Craig, who was conducting the service, said the Hadebe family had lost an angel. “This little angel has followed her name, which means 'Our Sun', and brought light to the daily lives of her family.”
Craig told her friends to keep in touch with the family, even after Hadebe had been laid to rest. “Mourning lasts for a long time," he explained. "Therefore you should keep on supporting the family by giving them calls, sending them messages and emails of support, even a year or more from today.”
Her mother broke down and tears rolled down her cheeks as the mourners sang the closing hymn, “Nearer my God to Thee”. SRC president Allan Magubane, a close friend of Hadebe, described her as the most approachable person he had ever met.
“You can see from the turnout that she was a people’s person,” Magubane told Grocott's Mail. “Look, it’s exam time, but people have come in numbers.”
Valerie Amani, who shared a flat with Hadebe and other two friends, said they had lost a treasured friend. “We used to share and celebrate everything together, and we recently celebrated when she passed her learner’s licence,” said Amani.
Hadebe will be laid to rest tomorrow in KwaMashu, KwaZulu Natal.
