How many times have you heard people saying “don’t speak ill of the dead” and how many funerals have you attended where everyone spoke fondly of the deceased, even though everyone knew that he/she was no angel.
I remember when my gangster neighbour was shot dead by police during a gun battle two years ago. He and his crew had just robbed a retail store, wounding one person in the process. He was shot dead as he tried to flee.
Everyone, including his family, friends and baby mamas knew what kind of lifestyle he led. He lived by the sword and it came as no surprised when he died by the sword.
I was however left in awe on the day of the funeral as everyone described him as a loving, caring, humble, God-fearing…blah blah blah person.
Hawu, I wondered, kanti why do people always lie when you’re dead. I mean, if they don’t want to speak the truth, then they shouldn’t say anything at all.
One of my colleagues was given the evil look when he said he was happy that Eugene Terre’Blanche had been killed. “how can you say such a thing” my shocked colleagues asked him.
So it was refreshing (lack of a better word) to read the comments made by the late Lolly Jackson’s detractors. I wouldn’t know if what they're saying is the truth or not, as I didn’t know the man, but the way they felt about him didn’t suddenly change when he died.
They “hated” him, dead or alive. These men obviously don’t buy into that whole “no speaking ill of the dead” $#@.
One of Jackson’s business rival Andrew Phillips who obviously detested him was quoted in the papers describing him as trash, a bigot, racist, extortionist and megalomaniac.
Said Phillips: “The whole world is buzzing about it. It's probably been a while coming the way he carried on. His attitude towards payment terms was: Ten percent down, balance in court. You make enemies of people that way. He always threatened people, warned them they were going to end up in a coffin. He lived rough and he's died rough.”
“It's a seminal moment. I think the world is better off. He was pollution, there was no other way to describe him. The air has been purified. He was a nasty guy."
I don’t condone nor condemn what Phillips had to say. As much as he might have hated Jackson, I think he should also remember that there are people that loved him- his family, who as much as his comments might be true, don’t want to read about it at a time like this.
So what is your take on the whole thing, have you been to one of these funerals. were you one of the people that choose to “bend the truth a little” as you did not want to speak badly of the dead. Should we really continue our "hatred" of a person even when they are dead or should we just let bygones be bygones.
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