Equal Education (EE) is mourning yet another founding leader, Lumkile Zani.
The 43-year-old was stabbed to death on Saturday 28 November at 20 Section, Mandela Park, Khayelitsha. His death comes just a month after the demise of Yoliswa Dwane, whom he worked with to establish the organisation.
Dwane died of liver cancer on Friday morning 21 October at the Khayelitsha District Hospital (“Steel in the face of injustice’: Residents pay homage to renowned activist”, City Vision, 27 October).
Her death sent shock waves in society and among those who worked with her directly on EE, a community, membership-based organisation, advocating for quality and equality in the South African education system.
As the news of Zani’s death surfaced, condolences have been pouring in, describing him as a “kind, principled, and a person of great strength”.
Zani’s elder sister, Lumka Zani, said she was devastated by the news. “From what we have heard he was trying to defuse a fight when he was stabbed. He only realised while he was walking away from the fight that he got stabbed. He went into a house to ask that they call an ambulance,” she said. “My brother died there while waiting for an ambulance, as there was no one to rush him to the hospital. The death of my brother has buried me alive,” she said.
Lumka described her young brother as a “very humble” individual who despised noise and was never a fighting person.
“My brother loved cooking and was a professional chef. When he was wrong he would apologise. Those stab wounds were the first he sustained as a person and as a family we have lost a great soul,” she said.
In a media statement, EE said: “EE is grateful to Lumkile not only for the invaluable contributions that he made to organising parents and learners in the township and rural communities and for leading strategies to improve the infrastructure of Eastern Cape schools, but also for his comfort and support to EE and the Dwane family after the passing of Sis Yoli in October.”
Harare Police Station spokesperson, Capt Siyabulela Vukubi said the victim was allegedly walking from a local tavern on Saturday 26 at about 20:30 when he was stabbed to death by an unknown suspect.
“The incident occurred at 20 block Mandela Park Harare Saps are investigating a murder case and no one has been arrested at this stage,” he said.
Zani is expected to be buried in Mavuso, Alice, in the Eastern Cape, next week.