FORMER PRIME MINISTER TO BE BURIED NEXT SATURDAY

LOZITHA – Former Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini will be buried next week Saturday at his home at Ndzingeni.

He will be given a state funeral.
A State funeral is a public funeral, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance.
State funerals usually include much pomp as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition.
This was announced by the acting Prime Minister, Dr Vincent Mhlanga, during a press briefing held at Lozitha, Ministry of Defence, last night.

Present during the press briefing, which took less than 10 minutes, were former cabinet ministers, Winnie Magagula, Phineas Magagula and Clement Dlamini, who have been tasked with the late former PM’s funeral arrangements, together with Reverends Nicholas Nyawo and Muntu Dlamini.

Also present was the former PM’s two children, Fikile and Muzi, who were both in a sombre mood during the brief press conference.
Only the venue and date of funeral service was announced last night and the acting PM revealed that preparations for the state funeral were at an advanced stage.

Mhlanga also informed the media that it had to get in touch with the task committee for more details as the days progressed.
Details on whether a memorial service for the former PM would be held or not, were also not revealed during the press briefing.
“You will have to get more details on the State funeral of the later former PM from tomorrow until the day of the service from the committee tasked with such duties,” Mhlanga said briefly.

Generally, state funerals are held in order to involve the general public in a national day of mourning, after the family of the deceased gives consent. A State funeral would often generate mass publicity from both national and global media outlets.

The late former PM was minister of Finance from 1984 to 1993. He was also an executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1996 to 2003 when he was appointed prime minister.

Following the September 2008 parliamentary elections, Dlamini was reappointed as Prime Minister by the King on October 16, 2008.
In 2013, he was appointed for the third time in the Ninth parliament. The late former PM was married thrice. His first wife was Jane Gezephi Matsebula, whom he married on June 26, 1970.

She sadly passed away in December 14, 2012 from kidney failure.  
He later married Pastor Joy Nonjabulo Gladness Maziya; however, the former PM filed for divorce just over two years later.
He then met and married Primrose Simelane last year.
In 2017, Dlamini went to Taiwan and South Africa for medical check-ups.

He was admitted to an ICU in April 2018 in Mbabane. The former PM died on September 28, 2018, less than a month after stepping down as prime minister,
at age 76, while admitted to Mkhiwa Private Clinic in Manzini.

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