Families of Covid-19 victims speak of their anguish

0 of 2

As SA reached a grim milestone of recording more than 50,000 Covid-19 deaths this week, relatives of some of the people who lost their lives to the virus spoke of their hurt and how their lives were cut short.

SA has become the first country in the continent to pass the sombre milestone with more than 50,000 coronavirus deaths.

The family of 65-year-old musician Olpha Selepe, who died of a Covid-19-related illness in December last year, said her life was cut short after she had recorded and released her single Obani Lababantu, which she wanted to use to inspire people not to let their dreams to be limited by age.  

The Amapiano artist, who was popularly known as Gee Six Five, took SA by storm a month before her death with the release of the song that became a hit online.

Her son, Nhlakanipho Mbatha, 46, said her mother wanted to inspire people to work hard in pursuing their dreams, irrespective of how old they were.   “With her project Obani Lababantu, her message was to let people know that you are not supposed to be limited by age in terms of whatever you want to do,” said Mbatha.

“She had been a choir conductor. Even when I was born, she was always doing music. When there was a function at school or somewhere, she would perform there. Music was her hobby.” 

Selepe, a former primary school principal and teacher, was pursuing a PhD in higher education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal at the time of her death.

A family member of  Covid-19 victim Charmaine Smit, a nurse at Bishop Lavis Clinic in Cape Town who died on Christmas Eve, said the 55-year-old mother of five children, three boys and two girls, wanted to continue caring for her community.

“She loved to help and give to people. She would give food to the community, and chips and sweets to the children,” said Carmelete Smit, 28.

Smit, who worked as a nurse for 15 years, had ambitions to travel the world. “She told me she wanted to go to China one day,” said Smit. “She was in hospital and was fine. We spoke over the phone and she was even waving at me when we went to see her. She believed in prayer. She was a child of God."

Zimasa Hoho, a nurse at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Diepkloof, Soweto, lost her life to Covid-19 complications in January.

Hoho, 31, of Protea Glen in Soweto, was described as a happy and cheerful person who wanted to become a social worker.

Her mother Zuziwe Hoho, who is also a nurse at Baragwanath,  said her daughter was her hope. “Since she was a nursing assistant, she wanted to upgrade herself to be a sister [nurse] and a social worker,” said Hoho.

Zuziwe said it was on Christmas Day when her daughter fell sick as she was preparing to go to work. “I still find it hard to accept that she is no more. There is a change at home,” she said.