White ribbons pinned to their shirts, the Rhodes community gathered in The Rhodes Chapel in Grahamstown on Wednesday 30 April to pay tribute to slain student Amanda Tweyi.
There was standing room only in the Chapel of St Mary and all the Angels, well before the start of the memorial service.
White ribbons pinned to their shirts, the Rhodes community gathered in The Rhodes Chapel in Grahamstown on Wednesday 30 April to pay tribute to slain student Amanda Tweyi.
There was standing room only in the Chapel of St Mary and all the Angels, well before the start of the memorial service.
Students, staff members, friends and family recalled moving, loving and at times funny moments with the second-year BSc student from King William’s Town who was shot in the residence room of a fellow student in the early hours of Saturday 26 April. The body of her boyfriend, 34-year-old Nkosinathi Nqabisa, was also found in the room. He also had a gunshot wound, assumed to be self-inflicted.
Acting Deputy Dean of Students Colleen Vassiliou invited the gathering to remember the life of a daughter, friend, sister, mother, granddaughter and fellow student. She asked that they bring their thoughts to Tweyi’s family and loved ones.
Tweyi’s younger sister, Talina Tweyi, recalled her as someone who “loved to love”.
Her elder sister spoke about how she had looked forward to the day she would see Amanda graduate. “But we cannot question the plans of God,” she said.
Amanda was described by friends and family as one who put her family first. She had spoken often about her son, who they said was the most important person in her life.
Senior Rhodes academic Dr James Gambiza, speaking on behalf of the University, described the difficult task of calling Amanda’s father last Saturday to tell him about her death.
“A sudden death is something one can never be prepared for. We have lost one who is dearest to us,” said Gambiza.
Addressing the students had been just as difficult, he said.
“It was heart-wrenching to see how this death affected the students.”
The counselling unit had been present from early in the morning till late afternoon, counselling students in both Rosa Parks and Cullen Bowles Residences, he said.
Rosa Parks was Tweyi’s home residence. Cullen Bowles was where she and her boyfriend were found dead.
Gambiza thanked Amanda’s father Zolani Gusha, and other members of her family, for allowing the Rhodes community to know Amanda.
In one of many moving moments, when Rosa Parks house warden Sandra Matatu rose to speak, students from the residence stood in solidarity with her. She spoke of the devastation to Tweyi’s friends.
“We have not just lost a housemate. We have lost a sister and a friend,” said Matatu. “We will always remember her warm smile, her kindness and her willingness to serve others.”
Matatu shared a poem, titled ‘Her journey has just begun’.
Tweyi’s friends remembered her as a young woman who loved to share a smile with those around her.
“We called her Nicki Minaj because she kept the same weave for a whole semester,” laughed one friend.
Her friends said they had started a book of messages for Amanda. The book was available after the service.
A group of Amanda’s friends, Hope Quntu, Zintle Walaza, Khanyisa Dwani and Vuyo Gosani, sang an isiXhosa version of the old hymn, ‘It is well with my soul, from the front of the venue. The hymn was slowly echoed by the congregation until almost every person present was singing.
