Agony and heartbreak are what is left for the family of a business power couple who died in a car accident on Sunday.
Thabiso, 56, and Ayanda, 54, Tlelai died while travelling back to Johannesburg from Durban, where they had visited their 15-year-old son at boarding school.
The couple were operating numerous businesses in property development, mining, tourism and financial services in Gauteng, Free State, the Eastern Cape and Lesotho.
Family spokesperson Lerato Banda said they were still coming to terms with losing two loved ones at the same time. She described the couple as good role models who young people looked up to, particularly because of their family values.
Banda told TimesLIVE the family will miss their warmth, charisma and strong leadership.
“They both loved and valued family and were the glue that kept us together,” she said.
The couple’s memorial service will be held on November 6 at their home in Waterfall, Midrand, at noon. They will be buried in Maseru, Lesotho, on November 14.
The couple died in a horrific crash near the eastern Free State town of Warden on Sunday afternoon.
Thabiso was a BCom graduate from the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, and was the owner and CEO of Don Suite Hotels for more than a decade. He served on the boards of SA Tourism, the National Empowerment Corporation and Basil Read, among others. He was also a founder and chairperson of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA).
Family reeling over the deaths of business couple in horror car accident
Reporter
Image: Supplied
Agony and heartbreak are what is left for the family of a business power couple who died in a car accident on Sunday.
Thabiso, 56, and Ayanda, 54, Tlelai died while travelling back to Johannesburg from Durban, where they had visited their 15-year-old son at boarding school.
The couple were operating numerous businesses in property development, mining, tourism and financial services in Gauteng, Free State, the Eastern Cape and Lesotho.
Family spokesperson Lerato Banda said they were still coming to terms with losing two loved ones at the same time. She described the couple as good role models who young people looked up to, particularly because of their family values.
Banda told TimesLIVE the family will miss their warmth, charisma and strong leadership.
“They both loved and valued family and were the glue that kept us together,” she said.
The couple’s memorial service will be held on November 6 at their home in Waterfall, Midrand, at noon. They will be buried in Maseru, Lesotho, on November 14.
The couple died in a horrific crash near the eastern Free State town of Warden on Sunday afternoon.
Thabiso was a BCom graduate from the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, and was the owner and CEO of Don Suite Hotels for more than a decade. He served on the boards of SA Tourism, the National Empowerment Corporation and Basil Read, among others. He was also a founder and chairperson of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA).
Two killed in car crash on N2 near King William's Town
Ayanda graduated with a law degree from the National University of Lesotho. An advocate of the South African High Court, she was the first black member of the Free State Bar in 1996 but resigned to join her husband in the business where she was instrumental in building the Free State and Lesotho legs of the family businesses.
Banda said the Tlelai family “is humbled and extremely thankful for the outpouring messages of tributes, love and condolences we have received from thousands of people throughout Southern Africa”.
“Words cannot express our gratitude for the kind words we have received, they have given strength in this very difficult and emotionally taxing period for us,” she said.
Thabiso and Ayanda are survived by two sons, Bonang, 30, Sentso, 15, and their daughter, Matseliso, 25.
TimesLIVE
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