Some people live their lives colourful and large and exit the stage of life in the same pomp and lustre.

Three weeks ago, a South African traditional leader Tshekede Pitso left tongues wagging and heads shaking after he literally had own highway to heaven!

The illustrious and mysterious Pitso had left a command instructing his family to honour his final wish… a burial inside his trusty Mercedes Benz.

Chief Pitso, 72, was driven to his final resting place on the back of a trailer dressed in his favourite white suit with both his hands on the steering wheel.

Then, funeral directors guided the 1990s E500 Mercedes down ramps and into the ‘grave’, which had been specially dug out by an excavator to eight feet deep, the former businessman and a father-of-six was then laid to rest with an official religious ceremony at the family funeral plot at their home in South Africa.

The high ranking United Democratic Movement politician became the talk of the nation with his bizarre funeral, which saw villagers break virus lockdown rules to attend.

Daughter Sefora Letswaka, 49, said: “My father was once a wealthy businessman and had a fleet of Mercedes cars. About two years ago, he bought himself a second-hand Mercedes Benz. It wasn’t long before it broke down, but he still spent much of his time in it outside the house.”

‘He couldn’t drive it, but that was where he was happy and spent much of his time, sitting behind the wheel and said when the time came he wanted to be buried in it.

“We listened to him and honoured his wish and hope he is happy looking down on us,” she said after the funeral.