Nsibanyoni will be remembered as patriot and outstanding legal mind

True to Mother Nature’s plan, as seasons change so too does migration begin in the enduring quest for the ultimate habitat. As with all migration, the journey always leads to the source for in the end, all are destined to return to the fountain where life began.

Fifty three years ago in the autumn of 1969, Thembekile Nsibanyoni was born to Rockville, Soweto. 

Her passing has plunged countless hearts into paralysis and anguish as many reflect on a wholesome life that intermingled with theirs, whether at St Mathews Catholic Primary School in Rockville, Ibhongo Secondary School in Dlamini, Mmabatho High School in Mafikeng, or later at the University of Natal. 

Also in mourning are the many who shared her journey through the Struggle and the expedition of life itself, across civil society or the various strands of her professional life as an advocate of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates and from 2020 as an acting judge of the labour court.

As family, friends, neighbours and associates converge to bid their fond yet reluctant farewell to a daughter, a mother, a sister and patriot, many remember a tall and wide-eyed beauty with a ready smile and a giving heart.

Thembi, as she was affectionately known, was the youngest of four siblings, preceded by her sister Nomvula, who passed in 2014 and brothers, Mangaliso and Muziwandile. Nsibanyoni would be raised in a loving family under the care and guidance of adoring parents who sought the very best for their children.

Her father Ralph and mother MaShadi resolved like all parents to strive for their children, determined to protect them from the violence of a system built to break and dehumanise the indigenous from cradle to grave in the land of their forebears. 

Ntate Ralph, who had served a prison term with PAC president Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe for their quest to crush apartheid colonialism and white domination, lived under the constant harassment and persecution of the racist regime. Growing up in such an enlightened, conscious, brave and politically active home, it was inevitable that Nsibanyoni and her siblings would all clench their fists as instruments of the Struggle for liberation and justice.

A multidimensional and versatile flower, Nsibanyoni was to find joy in the pursuit of many interests, among which her love for tennis, chess, books and ballet at the Chiawelo Community Centre, reigned supreme.

It was through her lifelong attachment to books that Nsibanyoni discovered a universe of knowledge, wonder and inspiration. Her deep comprehension of world history and understanding of humanity’s quest for freedom and self-determination, brought her into contact with philosophy, Marxism and the liberatory creed of Black Consciousness.

It was the latter that shaped and sharpened her outlook in life and service to nationhood, chiselling her into a torchbearer for black pride and the quest for excellence. It was because of this advocacy that she came to be known to her friends and associates as “the ideological bride of Bantu Biko”.

She was a regular at the iconic Regina Mundi, the largest Roman Catholic Church in SA, which carved a hallowed name for itself as a site of Struggle that used to host political meetings and commemoration services in Soweto.

With such a pedigree, what choice did she have but for her spiritual home to be the Azanian People’s Organisation, and her athletic abode none other than Orlando Pirates.

Nsibanyoni was raised in the St Francis of Assisi Anglican Church in Rockville and later became a parishioner of Christ the King Anglican Church in Sophiatown.

A beautiful mind and commitment to patriotic service

Her entire schooling years saw Nsibanyoni excel as an “A” student. Thus was she destined to pursue a stellar career in law, having completed the BJuris at the University of Natal, and later, the LLB degree through Unisa.

As a seasoned labour law specialist, Nsibanyoni gave more than 20 years as a commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), an independent national public entity that she served in various capacities in fulfilment of its mandate to “advance economic development, social justice, labour peace and the democratisation of the workplace”, the essence of her life’s work.

She served on a full-time basis as a senior commissioner in a managerial capacity from 1996 to 2005. Subsequently, ten of her years of service were in a part-time capacity as a senior Commissioner and a panellist with the CCMA.

A rose by any other name

Nsibanyoni will be remembered as a doting and dedicated mother, a patriot and outstanding legal mind, a thought-leader, who was independent and firm in her convictions, as one who was kind-hearted and generous to a fault.

She leaves behind her daughter Nomkhathi, her beloved brothers Mangaliso and Muziwandile, her aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, friends, comrades, fellow professionals and Azanians whose freedom and dignity were her alpha and omega. 

Lala ngoxolo, Malambule, Mathetha, Khoza, Jiyane, Mxhumanisi wa MaBhengu.