Just weeks after appearing in Lowvelder for kind-heartedly building a coffin for the baby of a struggling family, the young Hi-Tech Nelspruit
paramedic, Sakhile Mabuza, died tragically in a car accident in Hazyview on Sunday night, September 4.
At just 30, not only had Mabuza been a dedicated and excellent paramedic for almost a decade, he was a father of three young children, a loving husband, son and brother, and a skilled woodworker with a penchant for kindness and helping people in need.
Mabuza had appeared on page 5 of Lowvelder on August 25 for going above and beyond the call of duty and hand-making a coffin for a struggling White
River family whose nine-month-old baby had just died.
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Mabuza had been working the night shift with his partner, Charity Moyane, on the evening of Saturday August 13, when they were called out to a house in
White River to treat an ill baby. However, when they arrived, the baby was dead and there was nothing that could be done.
Moyane and Mabuza sat with the devastated family for hours, until almost midnight, trying to arrange affordable funeral services.
Mabuza had told Lowvelder that he knew the family was struggling financially, and he decided then and there he would offer to help them in some way. In his spare time, he built a coffin for the little one.
Late on Sunday evening, Mabuza’s colleagues received the heart-wrenching call that the paramedic had been in a car accident in Hazyview and had been trapped in the vehicle.
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Mabuza’s wife, Daisy, gave a touching tribute to her husband.
“Not so long ago, we were appreciating and celebrating the good you did for the less fortunate. Here we are today, celebrating your life. Our kids are asking, when is daddy coming back, and the only answer I can give them is tears.
“Go well, my love. I will see you in the morning, Mshengu. Daisy will forever love you.”
Mabuza’s family said he was the third of four children.
“Out of all of us, he was the most stubborn and hard-headed, but sweet at the same time. You were the bravest, and always took charge fearlessly. We still can’t believe you are gone. We never expected to say goodbye so soon. Words cannot describe the mixed emotions we are feeling now.
“We will always miss the happy moments we shared together. You will always remain in our hearts, Sakhile,” said the Mabuza family.
ER24’s Cobus Els said that Mabuza was a great basic life support paramedic.
“Quiet and always willing to assist, he always kept focused on the task at hand. He was also a good man, father, friend and colleague. He not only leaves a big gap in the Lowveld EMS, but also in our hearts and lives. He will surely be missed. Rest in peace, Sakhi, till the day the last trumpet shall sound.”
Hi-Tech, the company Mabuza had worked for as a paramedic for several years gave a touching tribute, calling him the “most gentle man anyone could ever know”.
“He always had a smile on his face. He had a way of making you feel that your pain was his own and your happiness is what he strived for. Sakhile was a great medic, and he had the kindest way of working with a patient.
“Patients always forgot about their pain when he was tending to them. Sakhile did not deserve to die in the manner he did, but we know that he would rather take it upon himself, than to have put any other lives or people at risk,” said Hi-Tech Medical Service operational medical manager Elmarie Prinsloo.
“I am truly grateful to have known him, and to see his legacy live on in his children. To the gentleman that was with Sakhile when the accident happened, I am grateful to God that you have survived, and I know that you will now live life to the fullest, as this was a miracle.
“May you be blessed in all the steps you take ahead in life, and may your joy spread like fire. Sakhile, may you live in eternal peace. We have the watch from here Sir. We will miss you every day.”
