The new South Africa was a large and violent city where a lot of deaths occurred, which meant there were a lot of funerals, which is why Toloki is a professional crybaby. He dressed with dignity in a worn suit, a battered top hat, and a cape to simply comfort the grieving family, since that was his job. “I tell you, mothers and fathers, there is death there. Soon we will experience the death of birth itself if we continue at this pace” (Busisiwe Magocoba) These words from the novel are spoken at a funeral which Toloki attends in his professional capacity. Toloki was paid well for his services. It was the largest amount he had ever received for a funeral. Toloki wanted to do his best so that the grieving family could get value for money. These words are spoken by the nurse during this funeral. The nurse was the sister of the man who was to be buried. The nurse's brother had died in unusual circumstances; he had left the house saying he was going to visit his sister. Since that day, no one had seen him alive again. The brother's family, having looked for him everywhere, had given up all hope of finding him. The nurse/sister, determined to find her brother, went to pick him up from the government morgue. She searched room after room of corpses but still couldn't find him. She had seen so many corpses that she couldn't take it anymore. She eventually found her brother by identifying the clothes he was wearing the day he was last seen. The nurse, having seen so many deaths, said these words. The nurse was trying to make people understand that there were so many deaths there. Having witnessed it, she was certainly an expert. The nurse had seen “…bodies of old and young men and women, beautiful gifts……in the middle of a paper……97. Ways of Dying, the transition novel by Zakes Mda. Catastrophe and beauty: [Online]. ISSN 0258-2279 79, 1-5. Available at: http://kanganof.com/kangablog/2010/10/14/catastrophe-and-beauty-ways-of-dying-zakes-mda%E2%80%99s-novel-of-the-transition [Consulted May 4, 2014]. (Busisiwe Magocoba) Review of Kirkus. 2002. Ways of Dying by Zakes Mda. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/zakes-mda/ways-of-dying. [Accessed 4 May 14] (Busisiwe Magocoba)Padraig O'Malley. 2000. Chapter 7: Political violence in the era of negotiations and transition, 1990-1994. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv02167/04lv2264/05lv02335/06lv02357/07lv02372/08lv02379.htm. [Accessed 4 May 14]. (Busisiwe Magocoba)Mda, Z, 1996. Ways of dying. 2nd ed. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Busisiwe Magocoba)