GIDEON MAHLALELA PASSES ON

MBABANE – Death has yet again robbed the country of a resourceful person in Gideon Jabulani Mahlalela.

Mahlalela was the first Swazi Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Swaziland Railway (SR).
His untimely death was confirmed by his daughter Thobile in a brief interview on Thursday.

“Babe Mahlalela passed away this morning (Thursday) at around 2am,” confirmed Thobile who answered Mahlalela’s telephone.
She explained that Mahlalela died while undergoing treatment in one of the local hospitals.

Adding, Thobile said her father had been sick for a while, without disclosing the ailment.
“We are still not sure about the dates for the funeral because we are still waiting for his son who is based overseas. However, we are planning to have the funeral on Saturday. If we can be able to secure a venue on time, the memorial will be held on Thursday.” 

In the event there are changes, Thobile said they would keep the public informed and further stated that Mahlalela is survived by two children. Initially, Mahlalela had three children.

Thobile disclosed that they recently buried their sibling in August, last year.
She also expressed hope that her brother, Jama would be in the country within the next three days.    
The parastatal where Mahlalela started working in 1982 passed its deepest condolences to his family, friends and relatives.
Sive Manana, Swaziland Railway Corporate Communications Manager, said they heard about the sad news on Thursday morning, adding that staff was informed of the sad news on the same day.

“We had not anticipated receiving such news because we had known that he was in good health.”
Manana pointed out that the company was still to get more details from the family about the passing of their former CEO.
“Since the news is still fresh, we are going to give the family sometime before we go to pass our condolences.”
He described Mahlalela’s death as a loss, not only to Swaziland Railway, but to the entire country.

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