There is a sense of reverence that Aisha Fundi accords her late husband, Hassan, which can be felt across the table as she speaks about him.
Fundi began the interview in her garden at her home in Safarituine, Rusternburg in the North West, with her head uncovered as she had just walked in from the mall.
Hardly three minutes into the conversation, she stopped and asked that no image of her with an uncovered head be used in respect of her husband who was Muslim.
Hassan, 47, died on August 12, just four days before the Marikana Massacre. He was hacked to death allegedly by miners.
He was part of the mine’s reaction team that had the difficult task of protecting Lonmin’s assets during one of the country’s bloodiest strikes.
To this day, Fundi remembers everything about her last moments with Hassan. “Normally, he would wake up and say let us go and pray. That day, he never woke me up. He went and prayed alone. When he came back from praying, I was still sleeping and I felt a shadow moving in the room and a strong wind.
“When I woke up, I asked him if he is the one causing this strange dream and he became rude, which was unlike him. He was a very humble man. But that day he spoke with a different tone. I asked him why he did not wake me up and he said ‘you think you are special, every time I must wake you up. Everyone will be accountable to God'. That was not his tone,” Fundi said.
He then left to prepare for work and that was the last time Fundi saw her husband alive.
Since then, each year on August 12, Fundi goes to her husband's grave and pray. She also lights a candle in the house the whole day.
Hassan has three children from his previous marriage in Malawi and three with Fundi – Mohammed, 30, Hussain 28, and Amina, 18.
Fundi said life without the support of her husband has been difficult and even “unbearable”.
Hassan was a firstborn of seven siblings and he maintained not only his children in Malawi but his siblings as well.
That responsibility was left on Fundi’s shoulders when he died.
“It is too much on my shoulder. It has been tough. His siblings are married with children but they still call me for help because they are struggling."
Her beautiful garden in the lofty suburb provides a perfect space for her to reflect on the 10 years she has lived without a man who was a pillar in her life.
Hussain also had his own struggles. He repeated grade 11. After finishing matric, the mine paid for his information technology studies at a college in Pretoria but he could not complete his studies as he suffered depression. Amina has been the most focused on her studies. She is in her first year at the University of Cape Town, studying law.
Fundi has tried dating and it did not work for her.
“My challenge is that in every man I meet, I’m looking for him and it's frustrating. I told myself that dating is not working for me, so I stopped. I will be reunited with my love in paradise one day.
Fundi said if she had money she would build a place of prayer or dig a borehole in Malawi in honour of her husband.
Fundi took Sowetan to the cemetery where her husband was buried. It is a special journey for her. She prayed at the entrance.
As we left, she softly whispered: “Goodbye my love.”
dlaminip@sowetan.co.za
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