Business Women Eswatini (BWE) and the entire nation have lost another virtuous and courageous warrior in Mrs. Dudu Lomanene Vilakazi of HS Transport, which is a member of Business Eswatini. It is unprecedented but today we mourn our very own. No amount of words and sophisticated vocabulary could even begin to describe the kind of woman she has been to us as an organisation and the women empowerment movement. It is even difficult to describe our feelings of inconsolable loss resulting from her untimely passing away.   

We started the BWE journey together only recently. Just as we were seeing the glimpses of success and a ray of hope, she was whisked away from us. We mourn a warrior gone too soon.

Being a true visionary, Lomanene, as we fondly called her, would not be held back by anything – not even lack. She stopped at nothing to generously give the best gift she had, even her last penny of her hard-earned money, in order to make an impact on the lives of the powerless. She gave her soul to the cause. She gave consistently her time and wealth of knowledge to us and all who came into contact with her. We ask ourselves this question today: Where will all of this come from now?

Like every noble assignment, our work has not been smooth sailing from the very first day. Throughout the difficulties we have been through, Mrs. Vilakazi has been the paragon of resilience and a source of courage when needed the most. She, as if was not experiencing any difficulties herself, was strong enough to spur us on and swallowed her own pains for the team. As if she was assigned by a higher power to do it, she demonstrated what working without complaining is. Our knees are weak.  

We are also aware that Mrs. Vilakazi’s untimely demise is not only a loss to Business Eswatini, but it is a loss to her family, her friends, and all who benefitted from her life. We pass our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to them. She was truly a blessing to us which we would have loved to have kept forever, but it was not to be. A hero has gone, and gone too soon.

We are in mourning and our hearts are filled with sorrow. But as colleagues, family, and friends who loved you till your last breath, we are also aware that your departure from us is a joy to the Lord and the Heavenlies with whom you now celebrate the life of victory which you lived on this earth. Congratulations on a life well-lived.

MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN ETERNAL PEACE.

Mrs. Tokky Hou – Business Women Eswatini Chairperson