Programme Director
Members of the Boya family
Leaders of the religious and business sector
Comrades and friends
Ladies and gentlemen.
I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We are gathered here today, family and friends to mourn the death and celebrate the life of Thomas Silumko Boya, who was affectionately known among his peers and younger generation as “Tom”.
We offer our sympathy to the Boya family.
It was with great sadness and a deep sense of loss that I learnt on Friday, 11 April 2013 Mr Boya is no more. Today we have converged here to commemorate the death of an outstanding South African. We celebrate the life of a community builder and a trail blazer.
It is indeed an honour for me to be here with you today to pay tribute to a father, husband, friend, colleague and the son of the soil who dedicated the better part of his life to the betterment of the lives of his fellow human beings. And I thank you for this opportunity to talk about some of my own personal memories of Mr Boya.
The untimely passing of Mr Boya is not only a loss to his family, but is a grief shared by Government and our nation as a whole. Many people knew Mr Tom Boya as an illustrious businessman.
What many people did not know is that he was a staunch campaigner for older person's rights, and a committed citizen in working with Government to address the challenges facing our senior citizens.
I started working with Mr Boya when I first joined the Department of Social Development in 2009 as a Deputy Minister. Mr Boya was actively involved in the affairs of the South African Older Persons Forum.
He was a leader in his own right and distinguished himself in business and in community service. He demonstrated his leadership in many initiatives which other speakers before me have alluded to.
One such initiative, for which we will remain eternally grateful, was his dedication to improve the well-being of older persons in South Africa.
Mr Boya founded the Limpopo Centenarian Club, and in 2010 was appointed the National Chairperson of the South African Older Persons Forum (SAOPF).
This is a national Forum dedicated to advocating for the human rights of older persons by highlighting their plight and generating a voice on key issues affecting them.
The vision of the Department of Social Development is: “building a caring society.” Mr Boya was an embodiment of that vision until his last day on this earth.
To realise this vision, he deemed it important to improve the welfare of our senior citizens. His untimely departure has robbed us of a selfless man who put the interests of his fellow human beings above his own.
Last year, the Department of Social Development organised a luncheon between President Jacob Zuma and a representative group of older persons to discuss a number of issues affecting our senior citizens.
Today, I still vividly remember how passionately Mr Boya presented a very convincing business case for the establishment of the Older Persons Desk in the Presidency and in the Offices of Premiers in all nine provinces. I learnt of his passing last week Friday when I had a meeting with the President's Coordinating Council to further discuss this issue.
Unfortunately, Mr Boya did not live one more day to hear the good news that President Jacob Zuma has instructed all the Premiers to establish the Older Persons Desk in their offices to ensure that issues of older persons priority.
We will sorely miss his energy and “never give-up” attitude in the social sector.
With his untimely departure, it is left up to all of us, whether in government, civil society or the business sector, to carry forward the cause which he so dearly championed. It is up to us to ensure that the abuse of our senior citizens such as the despicable and senseless humiliation of an older person by security guards in Jane Furse, Limpopo, as reported in the Daily Sun and does not ever happen again in our society.
Comrades and friends,
We came here today to celebrate Mr Boya’s fulfilling journey of life. As you have heard from many speakers, there are many reasons to celebrate his life.
We are profoundly glad that Mr Boya lived amongst us. We cherish the memory of his deeds and character. Let us honour the life of Mr Boya by following in his footsteps and share in the life of our communities.
As I close, allow me to read from Timothy 2, Chapter 4 verse 6 to 8 (King James Bible): “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
I thank you.
