Tributes pour in for PE pastor
Community has lost a great hero, says EFF Bay chair as Methodist minister dies
Condolences have been pouring in for well-known Port Elizabeth pastor the Rev Xolani Tengo, who died peacefully at Livingstone Hospital on Sunday night after being admitted with breathing difficulties.
He was 58.
Tengo, a pastor of the Methodist Church in Motherwell, famously left the ANC more than two years ago after having been a member of the party for 27 years, and joined the EFF.
At the time, he accused the ANC of having lost its moral fibre.
In May, he put his hand up to contest Nelson Mandela Bay’s ward 20 by-election as an independent candidate.
He said he had been staying in the area known as KwaNdokwenza in Kwazakhele since 1989, fighting for its improvement, which was why he wanted to run for councillor.
“Ever since I stopped fighting, there’s been no improvement or development in the area,” he said at the time.
However, his ambition to represent the ward was not realised because the council cancelled the vacancy.
Tengo had also been embroiled in a protracted legal wrangle with Morningside High School principal Saraswathi Pather.
Tengo had accused Pather of gross financial mismanagement at the school.
In turn, Pather applied for a protection order against the reverend, claiming he was harassing her.
Mfundo Ngcelwane, who had been Tengo’s personal assistant for the past five years and who is also a board member of the Tengo Dialogue Foundation, said the reverend was rushed to hospital with respiratory problems on Wednesday last week.
“He had breathing problems but we all thought in the end he was going to be OK,” Ngcelwane said.
“We can’t believe that it’s happened. I mean, you can never prepare yourself for something like this because he was so healthy.”
On Monday the Tengo family asked for privacy during this difficult time.
Family members have rallied around Tengo’s wife Xoliswa, who Ngcelwane said has not taken the news well.
Ngcelwane said: “Wow, he was a great man. A man who believed in people’s development, more especially the needy and vulnerable.
“He’d help them to get resources so that they can also survive in life.”
EFF regional chair in the Bay, Amandlangawethu Madaka, said Tengo was everything to the EFF.
“Even though he had left us we still took him as one of our own [and] he assisted us very much in the lead-up to the 2016 local government election campaign,” Madaka said.
“It’s a big loss. The Nelson Mandela Bay community has lost a great hero.
“We encourage his family to pick up where he left off as he was a voice for the people and a leader in the community.
“We ourselves have learnt a lot from the reverend – remember the EFF is still very young so he’s taught us very much.”
The ANC’s regional chair in the Bay, Nceba Faku, said the party was also in mourning.
“As the ANC we have been befallen with three bereavements and would like to express our condolences on all three, not just one.
“We have the bereavement of Reverend Tengo, yes, we have the bereavement of one young man who had been shot dead, allegedly by gangs in the northern areas, as well as the death of a councillor’s nephew,” Faku said.
“So we are dealing with a lot, but it’s part of your responsibility as a leader.
“Our message to all the families is that we’re very sorry that they’ve lost their loved ones, especially during the festive season.
“We do know that every family would love to enjoy Christmas and New Year with their complete family and for that we really want to convey our sincere condolences.
“May God give them all strength and protection.
“For Tengo, we thank him for his participation in the liberation struggle and his dedication to the community.”
Ngcelwane said a memorial service for Tengo would be held at the Nangoza Jebe Hall in New Brighton this week, before his funeral on Saturday.
Tengo is survived by his wife Xoliswa and six children.
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