A medical student’s body has finally been repatriated from Cuba.
Rehman Asad/NurPhoto via Getty Images
- The repatriation of the body of medical student Sbusisi Qongqo was hampered by national lockdown regulations.
- His body has arrived following intervention from the national government.
- His family announced that he would be buried on Youth Day.
Medical student Sibusiso Qongqo who died in Cuba, will be buried on Youth Day alongside his grandfathers at his ancestral Cofimvaba home in the Eastern Cape, his family told News24 on Monday.
Qongqo’s remains, which were trapped in the Cuban capital of Havana since 29 April due to restrictions implemented during the lockdown, were finally repatriated on Sunday, the Eastern Cape government said on Monday.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane previously announced that the body would only be brought to South Africa on 2 July.
READ | Body of SA student trapped in Cuba to finally be repatriated
But on Monday, Mabuyane’s spokesperson Mvusiwekhaya Sicwetsha explained that, thanks to the intervention of the national government, the body was brought back sooner.
News24 previously reported that Qongqo died on 29 April – 15 days after celebrating his 28th birthday, following a short illness.
His repatriation had proven to be impossible at the time because all South Africa’s borders and ports of entry – including airports – were closed.
Remains
The stalemate happened despite a high-level intervention by top government bureaucrats, including the SA ambassador to Cuba.
Qongqo family spokesperson Azola Qongqo announced in a short statement to News24 on Monday: “The Qongqo family has received the remains of our son, brother Sibusiso Qongqo, after months of engagement with government.
“Sibusiso’s body is in [the Eastern Cape, ku Ngqwaru, our brother will be laid [to rest] at home with our fathers tomorrow, 16 June 2020. We appreciate the relevance of burying a revolutionary person on Youth Day. We appreciate and [are] forever grateful to South Africans for their support in our grief,” he said.
READ | ‘Dirty, nauseating’ conditions at Eastern Cape hospitals
Sicwetsha added: “The premier worked with the family and national government to find solutions to the issue of repatriating Qongqo’s mortal remains to his family.
“Premier Mabuyane welcomes the contribution of national government on this matter and appreciates the willingness of the Cuban government to ensure that the Qongqo’s remains are brought to his family. It is the speedy intervention of national government that led to his remains coming home earlier than that date. We are informed that the funeral is planned for tomorrow.”
Fell ill
Qongqo left South Africa in 2015 with a group of other medical students who were part of the Nelson Mandela/Fidel Castro Medical Collaboration Programme and was due to return in July to begin two years of training.
However, he fell ill on 27 April due to pancreatic complications and died two days later.
READ | Govt wants DA’s ConCourt challenge dismissed with costs
The news of Qongqo’s death devastated his family and their dreams of having the first doctor in the family, especially his 60-year-old mother Nolubabalo Qongqo, whose health deteriorated after his death.
The NMFC medical programme, which was founded in 1996 by the then presidents of Cuba and South Africa, Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela, sends an intake of medical students abroad every year.
Qongqo matriculated from St James High School in Cofimvaba in 2008 with excellent results in Maths, Science and Biology.
