By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The 30 year old Wits University student Olorato Mongale was laid to rest at the Bainsvlei Private Cemetery in her hometown of Bloemfontein.
Mongale was last seen on Sunday, she was on a date with a man she had met a few days earlier at a shopping centre.
CCTV footage showed her leaving a location in Kew, Johannesburg, and walking towards a white VW Polo with fake licence plates.
She texted one of her friends shortly before leaving home, saying that she was excited and getting ready for her date. But police later found her body in an open field, sparking public outrage and calls for justice.
Hundreds of mourners gathered at the Bloemfontein City Hall to pay their final respects.
Mongale was described as an adventurous young woman who shone brightly in all she did.
“She was not just talented but also a beacon of energy and promise.
“Her light was extinguished far too soon. Her life was filled with dreams, laughter and love. Let us carry her memory forward. She has gone home,” family spokesperson Criselda Kananda told mourners.
A childhood friend said she spent the hours after her death “paralysed in bed”.
“I turned to God because I had so many questions.”
She recounted how Mongale had a troubling, recurring dream about writing a final exam.
“We didn’t think you would face a final trial so brutal and so soon. It shook me, it felt like you were saying goodbye and didn’t even realise it”.
A university friend from her time at Rhodes University, Khanyi Mlambo, told mourners that Mongale was “beautiful in every way imaginable” and a leader who spoke out on gender-based violence.
“She led a protest against GBV. It was her voice that was leading us in song. It was her voice leading us in protest. It was her taking a stand.
Deputy Minister of Police Polly Boshielo said the Mongale family could take some comfort in Philankosi Makhanya now being “in permanent custody” after his death. She vowed that law enforcement would not rest until Bongani Mthimkhulu had been found.
“We want him, whether dead or alive.”
Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities of South Africa, Sindisiwe Chikunga, said SA had failed Mongale.
“You deserve to live in a country where your safety is guaranteed, not debated. Where your rights are upheld, not negotiated.
“The responsibility to end gender-based violence is with all of us. It is not merely a government plan but a national effort. A call to action against the scourge that continues to wage war against our women.”
Mongale’s murder has once again shone a spotlight on gender-based violence (GBV) and sparked national outrage from the public and anti-GBV organisations.