Who was Anele Hoyana?

Anele Hoyana, the sangoma viciously beaten to death by Fritz Joubert last weekend, was once a promising sportsman who excelled at rugby.  

Hoyana was born Anele Vakele Hoyana on July 25 1979 at Somerset Military Hospital in Cape Town.

His mother, Tenjiwe Hoyana, was SA’s first black female quantity surveyor  and his father, Xhantilomzi Hoyana, was a teacher.

At the time of Anele’s birth, Tenjiwe was still obtaining her BSc degree at the University of Cape Town.

Hoyana went to preschool in Alice and did his primary schooling at Bhisho Primary School.

In high school he attended the prestigious Dale College  in King William’s Town before completing his schooling at Queen’s College in Komani.

There, according to his brother Olwethu, who owns East London champagne bar OhBrigado, he excelled in rugby and participated in Border athletics.

After matric, he attended the AAA School of Advertising.

He later decided his interests were in project management and enrolled at Varsity College.

He also did a course in quantity surveying at Intec College.

In 2002, he started working and was employed by various companies in different roles, including consulting, administration and management.

He started his own facilities management company, A & N Consulting, in 2018.

As to how he had come to be a sangoma training Joubert, Olwethu said the family had no knowledge of this arrangement.

A taxi driver told the Dispatch he drove Hoyana “many Saturdays” between the family homestead in Gonubie and Beacon Bay.

“I am not even going to say he was a good guy; he was the sweetest guy in the world.

“I know women who go to OhBrigado who told me that when other guys were hitting on them, Anele would go sit with them to protect them,” the driver said.  

Hoyana will be buried on Saturday in Kwelerha.

He is survived by his parents, two brothers, Olwethu and Unathi, a sister, Iviwe, his fiancée, Babalwa, and three children, Simamkele, Lithongo and Hlumani.