The late Tito Mboweni was today honoured with a category 2 special official funeral at the Nkowankowa Stadium in his hometown of Tzaneen in Limpopo.

A private funeral service for Mboweni was held at the Roman Catholic Church in Haenertsburg, outside Tzaneen, in Limpopo before heading to the stadium.The former Reserve Bank governor and ex-finance minister passed away last weekend at the age of 65. 

FAREWELL

The Nkowankowa Stadium was filled to its capacity with mourners including, family, friends, the general public and fellow comrades who chanted struggle songs. Speaking earlier at private ceremony Mboweni?s friend, Deneys Barry, described him as a social butterfly.

"I stand here with a heavy heart, The governor was a member of our club for some years until he was called to the cabinet.He had a great sense of humour and very oblique in expressing his opinions. He was a terrific chap and contributed to the transformation of our club when he joined us. We will never forget him and I must say he did earn his social butterfly status," said Barry.

WE WILL MISS YOU

President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke fondly about Mboweni and reminisced about the good times they shared whilst fishing.

" Comrade Tito and I shared a deep passion for trout fly fishing and would spend time talking about the skill of casting a line to catch a brown trout and compare that to prudent macro-economic policy management. I kept fearing that on Budget Day we would bring a dead trout fish to the National Assembly and talk about it.To the Mboweni family, you are all having to deal with the raw heartache from his death, but we want you to know that we are all feeling the pain together with you."

He said, "Tito's departure has left a void in our hearts. Comrade Tito, you understood the assignment.As we bid you farewell my brother, my comrade, my fellow fly fisherman, your legacy is of a successful transformation from a freedom fighter to a businessman, central banker and politician.You were a true servant leader, admired and loved by the people.You delivered on what was required of you,"said Ramaphosa.

Mboweni served as the country's finance minister from October 2018 to August 2021. Before that, he served as the eighth SARB governor from 1999 to 2009.He first joined the bank in July 1998 as an adviser to the governor.Mboweni also served as labour minister in the late former president Nelson Mandela's cabinet from May 1994 to July 1998 and before that worked as the deputy head of the department of economic policy in the ANC.