On 8 June 1986 chaos erupted during the funeral service of Mr Thamsanqa, an activist who died of natural causes inside the Methodist Church in Langa. The disruption occurred when two armed policemen appeared at the door during the service. People started panicking, pushing and jostling against each other in a bid to get out of the building. Mr Fikile Kobese, an executive member of the Uitenhage Residents Civic Organization reported that chairs were broken and in the pandemonium people were hurt.
The police denied responsibility for the mayhem, claiming that they were acting against an illegal gathering of people outside the church who they claimed had thrown them with stones.