MATSAFENI – The death of Sibongile Sibuyi has left a huge void in the community after she spent 28 of her 38 years of teaching at the school. She was a mother to many.
Through her hard work, she was promoted from one post to the other. She moved from a PL one educator to head of the foundation phase department, to deputy principal and finally to principal, a position she had from April 2018. “Her dedication, love for kids, her professionalism and caring for the community will forever be missed,” said Cllr Kenneth Mkhonto.
Mpumalanga News learned that her wish was to see all parents being responsible and involved in the education of their children. Sibuyi was also a member of the Partners for Possibilities (PFP), a programme in which principals partner with business leaders to improve their environments.
In one of the interviews she had with the paper’s sister publication, Lowvelder, as part of the PFP’s Day in Life of a Principal, she said, “I hope this will give me an opportunity to grow as a principal because we learned a lot from sharing our experiences with other principals and those in business. My wish is to leave a legacy at this school”.
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Moshe Khumalo, the SGB chairperson, conveyed his condolences to her family and the school. “We lost a mother and the backbone of the school,” he said.
Khumalo revealed that the school had also lost two young learners during the lockdown, a grade two learner who committed suicide in August and a grade three learner who died after recently being electrocuted in Matsafeni. “We are deeply hurt. This pains us as adults, how much more for the learners?
The school pupils need counselling. We did receive some immediately after the sad events, but we still need more. We ask for pastors to put us in their daily prayers,” he said.
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Zodwa Maseko, the district chairperson of the National Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), said Sibuyi was a noble, humble and dedicated member of the organisation.
“Her words and phrases were constructive and supportive. She was grounded to do her duties, generous and a great leader who led by example. She will forever be missed,” said Maseko.
She also quoted the late president Nelson Mandela when he said, “What counts is not the mere fact that we have lived, it is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lived”.
