Farewell to dedicated psychiatric nurse

Hundreds of mourners from all over the country converged at Tshidzini outside Thohoyandou on Saturday to pay their last respects to a nurse of the Hayani Hospital, Ms Livhuwani Patricia Thanyani.

Thanyani (51) met her brutal end a fortnight ago while on duty while supplying medicine to patients. According to the information available, she was surprised by a patient who hit her from behind with a heavy object and she died at the scene.

Her funeral service, held on Saturday at the local church, was attended by, among others, Vhembe executive mayor Cllr Tshitereke Matibe, government officials, traditional leaders, religious leaders, community structures, nurses in their uniform, members of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa and the other unions and many community members.

During the event, Thanyani was praised for her dedication and enthusiasm towards her work. The MEC for Health, Ms Phophi Ramathuba, described her as a hardworking professional who dedicated her entire working life to serving the community. "Our department is very sad to have lost a hard worker like Thanyani. We are more saddened when looking at the way she died. She was giving life to others, which shows her dedication to helping others,” Ramathuba said.

She added that Thanyani's death was a wake-up call to look at security measures at psychiatric hospitals such as Hayani. The security at the hospital has already been beefed up. “As an honour to her, we will celebrate International Nurses Day in honour of her sacrifices and to say never and never again shall we gather in this manner to bury one of our own,” Ramathuba added.

On behalf of the family, Mr Hudson Magara said the death had left a big void in their hearts. “We have lost a pillar of the family, someone we could rely on all the time. We are very saddened but also consoled and comforted by the support we got from churches and the government."

Thanyani was later buried at the local cemetery. She is survived by her five children.

A man aged 33 has been arrested in connection with her murder. He appeared in court last week and his case was postponed to 27 June while he remains in custody.

Date:29 April 2016

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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