Metro FM DJ Eddie Zondi's wife Phakamile bowed her head as she walked behind the pallbearers bearing the coffin containing the body of her husband at Westpark Cemetery yesterday.
Phakamile hid her grief under a wide-brimmed hat earlier when thousands of mourners attended the funeral service for Zondi at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus.
The Imbizo Hall was packed and those who arrived late had to stand outside. The sombre mood was lifted when speakers told amusing anecdotes about Zondi.
Minister of Water Affairs and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane, who met him on several occasions, said his radio show, The Romantic Repertoire, made her feel romantic.
She said she would send Zondi requests to play her and her husband's favourite songs.
"On Sundays me and my friends went to church and we knew that the rest of the day was reserved for Eddie Zondi.
"When Ntate Mokonyane was at his golf I would send him an SMS motivated by Eddie's playlist.
"John Legend is one of the artists I love and who will always make me remember Eddie," said Mokonyane.
Friend and colleague Robert Marawa recalled how Zondi had confessed to him that he knew he had met his future wife when he met Phakamile.
Marawa made a musical compilation dedicated to Zondi, including Lauren Wood's Fallen and It All Comes Down to Love, by BeBe Winans. The selection from the sports presenter had the clergy dancing and singing along with the mourners.
Acting SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng said: "We should open a trust for the kids of Eddie Zondi and others so they can go to school."
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