Loved ones gather at Steenbok Community Hall to remember Collence Silabela
Two memorial services were held in honour of Collence Silabela, who was recently laid to rest in Steenbok.
Community members and loved ones gathered at the Steenbok Community Hall on Thursday February 1 to celebrate the life of Collence Silabela.
Silabela was the principal road safety officer for the Tonga Cost Centre under the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison (DCSSL). He was also the secretary of the Nkomazi Local Football Association, the secretary of the Selati Football Organising Committee (LOC), and the secretary for ANC’s Ward 8 in Steenbok.
He passed away on Friday night, January 26, after a short illness.
His children commended him for being a present father who paid attention to detail. “My father was involved in so much community work and yet he made sure that he was home every possible evening to have dinner with us. He was not just a father; he was a best friend and a confidant. He always made sure that we were taken care of as a family and we are eternally grateful for that. Today we get to celebrate him with the people with whom we shared him with and it’s such an honour to witness how he touched people’s lives the way he has. It’s still unbelievable that he was able to love us so wholesomely and still be able to share himself with all of you here today,” said his daughter, Christabel.
ALSO READ: Help Ntsako from Bushbuckridge to bring the crown home
Speaking on behalf of the football fraternity, Thokozani ‘Ntrong’ Mkhatshwa said they will never find another like Collence. “We will never find anyone as dedicated as Collence. He was a man who gave his life over to the development of soccer in Nkomazi. He would leave his family to be with us in ensuring that players get ahead as they should and teams develop to their full capacity. The structures he served under will have to be disbanded so we can start over the committees. We are shattered and we don’t know how we will move forward without the man who was the centre of everything,” said Mkhatshwa, the owner and founder of Langeloop Blue Crane.
ALSO READ: SPCA Nelspruit urgently in need of pet food
The ANC regional secretary, Folus Sibuyi, hailed Collence as a comrade who served the ANC until his last days. “Collence was a loyal cadre to the movement, he has been in the ANC all his life and we are grateful to his family for allowing to share his life with us. I have been made aware that he still organised transport and mobilisation to the January 8 celebrations of the ANC in Mbombela even though he was not feeling well. Such dedication and loyalty have become rare to find and indeed, we are at a loss and mourning the departure of a great man. Ours is to repay his dedication and honour by taking the baton forward by ensuring that we revive the organisational love from the people and that the ANC wins the upcoming elections,” said Sibuyi.
The DCSSL also hosted a memorial service earlier at the same venue in honour of Collence on Thursday February 1. He was laid to rest at Steenbok on Saturday February 3.
