The late Elisah Dineo Sakala was hailed as a "soldier"who committed her life to the development of the people until her last breath.
This emerged last Saturday during her funeral at Musina where Sakala was applauded by her comrades from the EFF and a representative from the ANC, Taxi Nare, who is also a councillor for the Musina Local Municipality.
Nare said Sakala kept the officials and councillors of the municipality on their toes because of her persistent demands for service delivery to the people. "As a councillor, I would like to confirm before everybody that Musina Municipality will also miss her, even though she was from an opposition party. Even though she was not a councillor, she always made sure that she came to our offices and demanded that the community got certain services that she felt were not provided accordingly."
He added that Sakala had committed her life to fighting for the community, even though she was just an ordinary member of the EFF.
Adv Rendani Munyai, an EFF member in the Limpopo Legislature, described Sakala as a fallen hero who had worked hard for the development of her community in Musina. "Since she joined the EFF five years ago, she never fought for a position, but she made sure that she fought for people's rights. Because of her outspoken nature, Sakala even confronted the EFF leadership directly at the provincial level and expressed her concerns about the party's affairs," she added.
Sakala was born in Musina on 29 September 1965. She attended Makushu Primary and Musina High. At school she was very good in athletics.
She was married to Alpheus Malatji and they have three children. She is also survived by her father, Enoch, and mother, Maria, her three sisters and a brother.
She passed away on 10 September after a short illness.