One of the most decorated motor mechanics in the region, Thifhelimbilu Patrick Mbedzi, was laid to rest at Khubvi village last Friday morning (5 May), after he was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the bushes around Palathonga section at Khubvi village on 29 April.
The vastly experienced mechanic was born in Khubvi in 1971. He was the younger brother of Mr Mmberengeni Mbedzi, the village's first person to have obtained a mechanical engineering diploma in 1977 and who has been running a mechanical garage for more than 45 years.
The younger Mbedzi started learning how to fix cars when he was still in primary school, helping his older brother at home. After dropping out of school in Grade 11, he started his own mechanic workshop, where he worked with one of his best friends, Mr Nyelisani Nemavunde. He later worked for many local taxi tycoons, such as Mr Mapholi and Mr Nkhumeleni, before he joined one of the country's biggest mechanical garages in Germiston. In 2020, he was recruited by the Ramushwana Bus Services in Nzhelele, where he was still employed at the time of his death.
Speaking at his funeral, the manager of Ramushwana Bus Company, Mr Muvhango Ramabulana, said Mbedzi had been a hard worker and a natural leader. "He was recommended to us by a Johannesburg-based company in 2020. When he arrived, we had only three buses working and [were] unable to service seven other buses. But today, as I am speaking to you, all the buses are working. He was the best motor mechanic we had ever worked with in this company," he said.
The late Mbedzi is survived by his brothers Dr Booi Mbedzi and Mr Mmberengeni Mbedzi, sisters Ms Elina Mufamadi and Ms Tondani Mulaudzi, his wife and many children.