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Chronicle Reporter 

A MAN who has been staying in South Africa for over 20 years was discovered to be Zimbabwean when he passed on, with his relatives from Zimbabwe now demanding that his body be exhumed and reburied in his native country.

The man was known as Bekithemba Ngwabi Nkosi in the neighbouring country, living in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, where he had a polygamous marriage and also had adult children from the marriage

He passed away in August and was buried in Johannesburg.

His wives- Enathi Gwebushe and Tebogo Baloyi- and children were however shocked when the man’s relatives from Zimbabwe approached them, saying the man was infact Bekithemba Ngwabi and were demanding that he be exhumed and they travel with his body back to Zimbabwe for burial as per their traditions.

“The relatives actually came with the necessary proof, proving that the husband and father they knew as Bekithemba Ngwabi Nkosi was infact Bekithemba Ngwabi, a Zimbabwean who was using falsified papers in South Africa.

“This in itself was a traumatic discovery because after mourning someone you all loved, you then discover that he kept such a huge secret from the very people he purportedly loved,” said a family source who declined to be named.

The source revealed that now the two families (Zimbabwean and South African) were now at each other’s throats as each claimed they were responsible for the man’s burial rites and assets in South Africa.

“You would understand how complicated all this is because this is someone who had a double life, now he has left chaos for the people he claimed to love,” said the source.

This publication also spoke to officials within the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa who confirmed that upon their internal investigations they had discovered that the South African papers the man had used were falsified.