By Celani Sikhakhane
- Sibongile Nkonyane says her brother Bishop Thamisanqa Nkonyane was buried in a shallow grave at his Newcastle church while dignitaries attended his public funeral.
- Funeral company Icebolethu Group denies the building blocks claim and says the bishop was buried according to the family’s preferences on Friday, 5 June 2026.
The family of Bishop Thamisanqa Elijah Nkonyane say his body was found in a shallow grave at the back of his own church, wrapped in a blanket, cowhide and plastic, while his coffin stood at the front of a public funeral attended by politicians and community leaders.
His sister, Sibongile Nkonyane, said the grave was not even knee-deep.
“My brother did not deserve such humiliation. The way he was buried, you would swear it was a dog that was kept in that shallow grave,” she said.
“We found him wrapped with a blanket and a skin cow. His head had blood. What is more painful is that while he was wrapped with a blanket, a skin cow and plastics, his coffin had only building blocks inside.”
The family say Bishop Nkonyane’s body was buried on Friday while his funeral took place on Saturday. They say they only discovered on the day of the funeral that he was not in the coffin in front of the congregation.
His body was exhumed on Monday from the backyard of the eNyonini eMhlophe Zion Church in Osizweni, Newcastle. The exhumation followed a ruling by the Pietermaritzburg High Court, which ordered the bishop’s fiancée, Priscilla Sizeni Mazibuko, to take the family to where he was buried.
The family’s account is supported by the local traditional leader. Inkosi Sawela Kubheka of the Osizweni and Manzana tribal authority had already demanded an exhumation before the family approached the court. He said those who buried the bishop were given three approved grave sites and ignored all of them.
Icebolethu Group, the funeral company that handled the burial, disputes the family’s version. In a statement dated 9 June 2026, the company said the body was not missing, there were no bricks in the casket and the bishop was buried according to the family’s preferences. The company said it delivered the remains to the family home on Friday, 5 June 2026, and that the funeral proceeded normally the following day. Icebolethu said it was served with a court order during the funeral service and complied.
The siblings are backing the bishop’s first wife, Dolly Nkonyane, who brought the original court order blocking the funeral.
They say they plan to give their brother a dignified burial.
Pictured above: Bishop Thamisanqa Elijah Nkonyane of eNyonini eMhlophe Zion Church in Osizweni, Newcastle, whose body was exhumed following a High Court order.
Image source: Supplied
