Ernesto Nhamuave is home
On Monday 2nd June 2008, two weeks and one day after he was burnt to death in the streets of an informal settlement far from his family and loved ones, at 5am his body completed its 1000km journey from South Africa to the dusty little village in rural Mozambique.
We were there to greet him, two photographers and one journalist who witnessed the events of the 18th of June. It was important to take this journey, important to let people know that he was a real man with a wife and three beautiful children.
It is surreal that one of the photographers, Simphiwe Nkwali who was there that day, would also be the person who delivered Ernesto’s body back to his family. Nkwali was following the body from the mortuary in Johannesburg to Mozambique when it broke down. He loaded the coffin on his hired 4×4 and enabled Ernesto to be re-united with his family.
Beauregard Tromp and I spent the night sleeping in our hire car waiting, afraid that we would miss the return. We both felt that it was important to be there, at the village when he came home. We could not have been more right.
The funeral that we witnessed was one of the hardest things that I have ever done in my life, I feel that I have a link to Ernesto and his family that will never go away. It was a beautiful ceremony and I feel privileged and thankful to his family that they let me be a part of it.
Closure. Many people told me that I needed to make the journey to achieve this. But, it is not closure that I have found! I have found purpose in my life and my pictures. Ernisto’s death will not be for nothing, I will see to that.
I have decided to start a trust fund in Ernisto’s name, the aim of which will be to benefit not only his direct family, but also the people of the area around his village. I would like to get a well dug, so that they have water to irrigate their crops. I want to get the school sponsored, so that children have an opportunity to make something of their lives. There are many other ways that we can impact on their lives, and I feel that we owe it to them. As South Africans we took him away, we have no choice but to do something in return. We need to make amends!
More details on “The Burning Man Trust” will be available soon, watch this space……SKR
