Tributes pour in for BCM deputy mayor
Emotional but celebratory service for Zoliswa Matana
Loving, dedicated, kindhearted, a people’s person, a gallant fighter, steadfast and a community activist.
This was how speakers described Buffalo City Metro deputy mayor Zoliswa Matana, who was laid to rest on Wednesday after an emotional but celebratory service.
Matana was admitted to hospital with Covid-19 complications and died on Wednesday last week.
BCM mayor Xola Pakati said at the funeral: “We are deeply saddened by her loss. She joined the struggle early in her life. She was involved in a number of organisations. She was incarcerated for four years by the apartheid regime.”
Matana was born in Duncan Village. She dropped out of school in Standard 7 (Grade 9) to start working.
Determined to further her education, she returned to school in 2015 at the age of 55 to complete her matric.
Four years later, Matana earned a BA degree in public administration from the University of Fort Hare.
Her son Ntsika wept while speaking at her funeral service.
“Mama was very original, she was not a fake and did not like fake people,” he said.
“Mama was very loving and independent, selfless. She did not think only about herself but others as well.
“She was a workaholic. Mama was an admirer, she complimented good things, even if she did not like a person,” he said.
“Mama was complete.
“When I say complete I don’t mean perfect because she also made mistakes.
“She had a way of saying sorry when she had wronged someone.”
ANC Eastern Cape spokesperson Loyiso Magqasela said Matana had a strong character.
“She was loving. As the provincial executive committee we have lost in losing her.
“We will miss her contribution. She was frank,” Magqasela said.
“This is a comrade who never let an opportunity pass. She respected the wisdom of a collective decision.
“She was a disciplined comrade who never saw her position as a status but as a solution. She would do everything without the expectation of gains.”
Matana’s friend Unathi Mehlwana described her as tough and rough.
“She was a sister to me more than a friend.”
The Eastern Cape now has the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in the country, a tragic record that confirms the province as SA’s pandemic hotspot.
Mama was very original, she was not a fake and did not like fake people. She was very loving and independent, selfless