Former chairman of Thulfa laid to rest

The former chairman of the Thulamela Local Football Association (Thulfa), Mr Aifheli Albert Tshisikule, was buried at the Tshikweta cemetery outside Thohoyandou last Saturday. He succumbed to a long illness on Saturday, 16 January, at the age of 60.

Speaker after speaker who shared the podium during the funeral ceremony described Mr Tshisikule as a selfless community leader who always stood by his word.

Born on 16 January 1961, Mr Tshisikule completed his primary education at Miluwani and Lufule Primary Schools in the early seventies. After matriculating at Mphaphuli High School, Mr Tshisikule registered for a Bachelor of Education degree with the University of Venda. He was one of the founder members of a local football club, Mphego Real Rovers FC.

Real Rovers campaigned in the Thulfa Division for several years before gaining promotion to the Safa Vhembe Regional League. Mr Tshisikule was the chairman of the club at the time of his death. After leading Real Rovers for several years, Mr Tshisikule was unanimously elected the chairman of the Thulamela Local Football Association.

Mr Tshisikule, together with some of his colleagues in the Thulfa executive committee, were suspended from taking part in football by the disciplinary committee of the Safa Vhembe Regional League. Mr Tshisikule was not happy with his suspension and he took the matter to the High Court, where the case was dismissed with cost.  

He was a teacher at the Azwifarwi Secondary School, chairperson for the local Sanco branch and secretary of the Nandoni branch of the African National Congress (ANC) at the time of his death. He is survived by his wife, Grace Tshisikule, five children and four grandchildren.

Date:30 January 2021

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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