By Naadiya Adams

The late Joburg Mayor’s funeral arrangements have been finalised.

Jolidee Matongo was killed in a car crash on Saturday evening while travelling from a campaign day alongside President Cyril Ramaphosa in Soweto.

The incident took place on the Golden Highway where two other people were also killed.

In an interview with Radio Islam, the spokesperson for the Premier, Vuyo Mhaga, said he was returning from a long day on the campaign trail.

“It would be a few hours after he departed from a very gruelling door to door campaign, engaging with the communities in and around Soweto and obviously taking some of the concerns of the community,” said Mhaga.

During a meeting at Matongo’s home in Lenasia, South of Johannesburg, the family funeral committee, under the guidance of the ANC’s Joburg regional structure, made the decision to honour the late Mayor with a civic funeral.

The party wished to respect the wishes of the Matongo family.

ANC’s Sasabona Manganye said “We had a funeral committee meeting engaging with the family just to ensure that whatever plans we have are in line with the family’s plans.”

Mhaga says Matongo’s passing is a major loss.

“He leaves a lot of work of institutional memory and some of the plans that we afford by the ANC … but in governance it’s a massive, massive disruption, we could see him really warming up to the seat and responding quite well, and really engaging with the people of Johannesburg so it is quite a setback for us,” said Mhaga.

Matongo will be buried on Friday, with memorial events taking place throughout the week at different locations across the city of Joburg.