REVEREND BHEKINDLELA DIED A SAD, DEPRESSED MAN

MBABANE – “He died a sad man”.

These words were heard now and again as different speakers took turns with the microphone to deliver speeches at a fully packed memorial service for the late Reverend Bhekindlela Magongo, who passed away in a car accident last week. Even though others tried to not say it openly, others stated it straight that prior to his death, Magongo had become a depressed man and was finding it hard to deal with challenges emanating from the tensions that have, for months, been threatening to split the Eswatini Diocese of the Anglican Church between the leadership and congregants at the main Cathedral of the church.

Magongo, who was the Archdeacon of the West where he was overseeing a number of parishes, over and above being Rector of Sigangeni Parish, had been caught in the mix of the tensions which have hogged the headlines on countless occasions since the leader, Bishop Dalcy Badeli Dlamini, assumed leadership of the local diocese, taking over from the late Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya in February last year. The challenges involving the late reverend started when he was transferred from Sigangeni to Hlatsi, something which he was unhappy about and tried to oppose but with no success. He was also demoted from being an archdeacon and further had his allowances cut.

Also, there were reports that he received an unfriendly letter in November last year informing him of a possible revoking of his pastoral licence. His situation was not unique as other senior pastors had faced the same predicament, with some even taking the legal route, leading to fears that the church could be set for a split. One of the speakers at the memorial, All Saints Senior Warden Lolo Mkhabela described how Magongo arrived at All Saints following the news of his transfer and she enquired from him how he ended up being there.
She said the reverend then explained how the move had to do with the tensions.

“I will not dwell much because I know that many of you have been following the issue. Off late I had been engaging the reverend privately because some of us have now become counsellors due to the issues. Our last conversation was last Thursday, where I asked how far he had gone with the issues affecting him in the church. He was a very sad man, I must say. He was deeply sad,” she said. Elaborating, Mkhabela said last Sunday, she requested other congregants to come together and pray hard for the reverend. “That was my last message to the church. We spent four hours praying and discussing his issue. When I received the message on Wednesday at 11am from his wife to tell me the sad news, I recounted what had happened in the past few days,” she stated.

She mentioned that what caused the pain on the reverend was that the leadership of the church was not willing to listen to him. She said Reverend Magongo had confided in her how hurt he was at the fact that each time he knocked on the doors of the leadership, he was not welcome. “I must say this today that we need very strong conflict-resolution mechanisms in this church because we will continue to die. We will die because of the pain of feeling like you are not being heard. Whether the outcome is negative or positive, we must try to allow for a platform where issues are discussed,” Mkhabela said.

She said as she was counseling the late reverend, he did inform her that he had tried to request an audience with the executive of the church but did not receive a response. “We are gathered here today, sadly, to commiserate about something that should not have been. We request the leadership to listen to us and allow congregants to use the right structures to have issues resolved. Let us use those structures honestly and learnt to confront these tensions,” she said. Nathi Bhembe, a friend to Magongo, also spoke of the sadness that Magongo felt before his death due to the tensions at the church. In vernacular Bhembe said, “Ufe abuhlungu”.

Also speaking was Reverend David Zungu, who spoke on behalf of Magongo’s colleagues and said he was one man who forged good relationships with everyone and hated lies and gossip. He said Magongo loved the church and always had advice for everyone. “Magongo was concerned with the welfare of the clergy. He would get worried whenever a senior priest was being transferred to another region under questionable circumstances,” Zungu said. Reverend Canon Advent Dlamini, who also spoke at the memorial service said Magongo was positive even when the tensions seemed to be getting out of hand.

Worth noting is that Advent also had his fair share of challenges and last year, he was investigated for allegedly being in the process of acquiring land to form a breakaway church.
When speaking at the memorial, Advent would now and again make reference to what both he and Magongo were going through. “Magongo loved this church so much that not many people even realised that he was no longer with the people he was supposed to be with. Death found him in the wilderness just like most of us. We are encompassed by this hatred and we do not know how it came about. A lot of things were said in the newspapers but I do not remember even once someone explaining what I was being accused of. I am happy that Magongo was able to pour out his heart,” Advent said.

He said recently Magongo informed him that he was no longer angry towards all the people who were ill-treating them. Meanwhile, Maswazi Mnisi, who spoke on behalf of the Anglican Schools Association, said they were at a loss for words and were struggling to come to terms with the fact that the man they believed would help restore peace was gone. Speaking on behalf of soccer giants Manzini Wanderers Football Club was Barnabas Dlamini, who mourned for all affected by the loss of Magongo. Dlamini made it known that Magongo was very passionate about the soccer team. “He took a leaf from his father Bruno, who formed part of the elders who formed the team in 1957. Bruno followed the team throughout until he became part of the council of elders. The reverend simply followed in the footsteps of his father. This is the biggest loss for us,” said Barnabas. He explained that Magongo was always positive and never supported decisions to sack coaches.

Instead, according to Barnabas, Magongo would encourage the management and supporters to not lose hope but believe in the team. “The car accident happened when he was fresh from watching the team after it had won against Green Mamba FC. We are grateful to have had a person like him who continued to attend the soccer games even when the results were bad in the team. We have fans who desert the team and not go to the stadium when the results are not good,” said Barnabas. Regarding the accident that killed the reverend, it was reported that he lost control of the car he was driving and knocked it against the medium concrete wall at the Galp/Breweries off-ramp, towards Mahhala in Matsapha along the MR3 Highway, He was said to have been travelling with three passengers, who also sustained serious injuries and were admitted to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital in Manzini.

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