Nombuso Maphalala at the TRIBUTES Awards 2025
TRIBUTES Excellence Awards Honouree and KZN Government Official Dies Suddenly
Johannesburg, South Africa – 15 December 2025: The disability rights community is mourning the sudden passing of Ms Nombuso Adelaide Maphalala, a distinguished advocate and recent honouree of the TRIBUTES Excellence Awards 2025. Her death has sent shockwaves through government circles, civil society organisations, and the countless lives she touched throughout her remarkable career.
The cause of Ms Maphalala’s death has not yet been officially determined, and her family will release further details in due course.
Ms Maphalala was last seen in public during the TRIBUTES Excellence Awards celebrations in November, where she spent five days with fellow honourees and organisers travelling from Durban to Richards Bay. Colleagues and acquaintances remember her as vibrant, engaging, and in characteristically good spirits throughout the festivities, making her sudden passing all the more difficult to comprehend.
A Distinguished Career in Public Service
For nearly two decades, Nombuso Adelaide Maphalala served as Deputy Director for the Office on the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the KwaZulu-Natal Office of the Premier, a position she assumed in March 2005. In this capacity, she became one of the province’s most influential voices on disability policy and implementation.
Her responsibilities included coordinating disability mainstreaming across provincial government departments, monitoring compliance with accessibility standards, and ensuring that persons with disabilities had meaningful input into policies affecting their lives. She worked at the intersection of legislation and practical implementation, transforming policy promises into tangible programmes and services.
Ms Maphalala’s influence extended well beyond her primary portfolio. She served as an adjudicator for the Service Excellence Awards across the Premier’s Office, the Department of Correctional Services, and the Department of Transport, evaluating how effectively these institutions served vulnerable populations. Her assessments carried particular weight because she understood that true service excellence requires dignity in every interaction.
During a three-year tenure on the National Development Agency board, Ms Maphalala ensured that disability considerations remained central to poverty alleviation and community development strategies, rather than being treated as afterthoughts.
Faith and Advocacy Intertwined
As a Reverend, Ms Maphalala brought her advocacy work into spiritual spaces, delivering messages that combined her professional expertise with faith-based conviction. Whether speaking from government podiums, boardroom tables, or church pulpits, her message remained consistent: disability rights are human rights, and inclusion is everyone’s responsibility.
Following her retirement from public service, Ms Maphalala had been transitioning into private business, applying her decades of experience and passion to new ventures. She approached this new chapter with the same determination and vision that had characterised her government career.
Recognition and Legacy
In November 2024, Ms Maphalala received recognition from the TRIBUTES Excellence Awards in the Public Service Award category, celebrating her nearly 20 years of groundbreaking work in disability advocacy. The award acknowledged her role in transforming how KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial government addresses disability inclusion and accessibility.
Musa E. Zulu, founder of TRIBUTES Excellence Awards and Valhalla Arts, expressed deep sorrow at the loss: “We are devastated by Nombuso’s passing. Just weeks ago, she was with us, full of life and warmth, touching everyone she met. We feel privileged to have honoured her while she was still with us and grateful that she experienced the recognition she so deeply deserved.”
Condolences Pour In
Various disability rights organisations across South Africa and government officials have expressed profound grief at Ms Maphalala’s passing.
Fellow 2025 TRIBUTES Awardees expressed their loss on WhatsApp group messages.
Her work in ensuring that persons with disabilities are not merely counted but genuinely seen and heard has left an indelible mark on KwaZulu-Natal’s approach to inclusion and accessibility. The systems she helped build, the policies she influenced, and the people she mentored stand as testament to a life dedicated to justice and human dignity.
The disability rights community has lost a formidable advocate. South Africa has lost a public servant of exceptional calibre. Her family has lost someone irreplaceable.
Ms Maphalala’s legacy lives on in every accessible government building, every inclusive policy she championed, and every person with a disability who found their voice through her advocacy.
The family will announce funeral arrangements.
