State-funded funeral for Zimbabwean national Elvis Nyathi killed by xenophobic South Africans

Elvis Nyathi, the Zimbabwean man who was brutally killed and then burned by a mob in Diepsloot last week, will be given a state-funded funeral in his home country.

A statement signed by Misheck Sibanda, chief secretary of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, said the president “has granted a state-assisted funeral to the late Elvis Nyathi who was slain in SA last week.

“The remains of the late departed are expected in the country at the weekend,”  it said.

Nyathi was killed last week after a day of protest against crime and poor policing of immigration laws.

According to neighbour and childhood friend Prince Mkhwebo, a small but angry group came knocking at the gate — demanding to see the identity documents of the residents. Nyathi, knowing well he had no papers, hid until the mob found him.

He was beaten, stoned and set alight a mere 20m from his home.

“They said he was running away so he must have a gun or something. They found him, started beating him and took him away to kill him,” Mkhwebo said.

Nyathi was 43 years old and leaves behind his wife and four children.

No arrests have been made.

TimesLIVE