Icebolethu Group and Sibongile Nkonyane have moved to address mounting public speculation surrounding the funeral of the late Enyonini Mission Church president, Dr TE Nkonyane, in KwaZulu-Natal, Newcastle.
The church leader died on 31 May and was meant to have been buried on Saturday, 6 June, as per Icebolethu’s Facebook posts. However, the funeral did not proceed smoothly as planned amid a court order brought by the deceased’s wife. There are also claims that there were bricks in the coffin, not the remains of the deceased.
However, Icebolethu has dismissed these claims.
“As a company entrusted with serving bereaved families, we take any matter involving our funeral operations seriously and are committed to conducting ourselves with professionalism, integrity and respect for the law at all times,” said the funeral parlour in a statement.
“We wish to state that Icebolethu carried this burial like any other dignified burial we handle. We adhered to all our processes and procedures according to our service standards and the industry’s legal framework.”
Icebolethu: ‘No bricks in coffin’
According to Icebolethu, the body of the deceased is not missing.
“The family buried the body as per their preference,” said Icebolethu.
“There were no bricks inside the casket; those claims are not true. We request the public to refrain from spreading false claims, as they are tarnishing the legacy of the late church leader, the family and the church.
“Icebolethu Group acknowledges and respects the family’s beliefs, customs and cultural practices.
“As per procedure and the family’s request, Icebolethu delivered the deceased’s remains on Friday, 5 June 2026, to the family home. On Saturday, 6 June 2026, Icebolethu carried on with the normal funeral proceedings. During the funeral service, Icebolethu was served with a court order and complied.”
The funeral parlour called on the public to allow the authorities to handle the matter amid ongoing court processes.
‘Where is my brother?’
However, the deceased’s sister, Sibongile, says the family has allegedly uncovered a grave at the church premises.
While reports claimed the grave was “shallow”, Sibongile told SABC News on Wednesday that she could not comment on the size of the grave.
“We can’t say that it’s a shallow grave because he has not been dug. So we’re still waiting for him to be exhumed. So we cannot comment on the size of the grave at the moment. We are looking for a court order to exhume because we found a place that we think this is where he could be buried,” said Sibongile.
“But we’re looking for the court order so that he can be exhumed. We strongly feel that is where he is buried.”
Sibongile explained that she received a call from the deceased’s partner informing her that her brother had passed away.
The family proceeded with the preparations to bury him in Newcastle. They arranged with the partner to collect his remains on Wednesday, 27 May. When the day arrived, relatives informed the family that they had seen a convoy of the deceased’s funeral driving to Newcastle.
“That’s when we realised that we were no longer part of these funeral proceedings,” said Sibongile.
Court interdict
The family then launched an interdict, which stopped the burial, and they went to view the body at Icebolethu.
“So when inside the mortuary at Icebolethu, they opened the casket. They first opened from the bottom, from the legs.
“There were two bricks. You know, the building bricks, the grey ones. There were two of them where his feet would have been. Then we asked them to open the head, to open the coffin. There were also two grey bricks, where his head would have been.
“It’s causing us a lot of pain, because from there we went and opened the case… [at] the police station. So now what we know is that our brother was not in that coffin. All that ceremony that was held on the 6th of June was just a fake. It was a staged thing. He was not there. And it’s sad because people have driven from as far as Swaziland to attend the funeral, only to come and bury bricks. Anyway, we decided to open a case.”
The family is now waiting for a court order to exhume what they believe are the deceased’s remains.
