A Soweto Childhood
Queen Mary Mfolo was born in 1968, a daughter of Soweto, into a family and a community that would shape the warmth and strength she carried all her life. She was born to her mother, Joyce Tukiso Xaba (née Mfolo), and her father, Ewert Nene — the family from whom she drew her first lessons in love, faith, and resilience.
Her education began at Thabaneng Lower Primary School, before she moved on to St Martin, and then completed her schooling at Immaculata in Diepkloof. Even as a young girl, the path she was walking pointed toward a life of service and learning — one that would eventually place her at the front of her own classroom.
Teacher, Seamstress, Mother
After school, Mary answered a calling that would define her working life: she enrolled at Vista Training College to train as a teacher, and in time she earned her Diploma. Teaching was not simply a profession for her — it was a way of giving, of pouring patience and care into the next generation.
Her first post was at Qalabotjha School in Villiers, in the Free State, where she began teaching in the early 1990s. Yet her gifts reached beyond the classroom. For many years Mary was also a skilled seamstress, working with needle and thread well into the early 2000s — clothing her family and community, and turning her hands to beautiful, useful things. Whether at the chalkboard or the sewing machine, she created and she provided.
Among life's greatest joys was the birth of her son, Ntokozo — known to many as Vuyani. Motherhood became the heart around which everything else turned, and the bond between them would carry her through every season still to come.
She taught with her whole heart — the way she did everything.
At the Front of the Classroom
In time Mary moved on to Langlaagte High School, carrying with her the same dedication that had marked her years at Qalabotjha. Across the schools she served, she gave herself fully to her learners — shaping young minds, offering encouragement, and standing as the kind of teacher children remember for the rest of their lives.
Away from her work, Mary was warm, full of life, and proudly herself. She was a loyal supporter of Kaizer Chiefs — Amakhosi through and through — and wore her gold with pride. [A sentence here about what she loved, how she laughed, or a memory the family holds dear would bring this chapter fully to life.]
Faith Through the Fire
In 2003, after years of devoted service, illness made it impossible for Mary to continue the work she loved, and she tendered her resignation, being medically boarded. It was the close of one chapter, but never of her spirit.
For more than two decades she fought a long and courageous battle, in and out of hospital. Through it all, her faith never wavered. A devoted Christian to the very end, she held fast to God in her hardest hours, and found comfort in praying the Holy Rosary — its quiet, steady rhythm a companion through pain, and a testament to the unwavering faith that defined her. Where others might have grown bitter, Mary grew only more gentle, more prayerful, more sure of where she was going.
She was called home on 18 June 2026, at the age of 57. She leaves behind her beloved son, Ntokozo (Vuyani), who was her pride and her joy; her brothers, Mziwethu Xaba and Nhlanhla Nene; her sister, Busisiwe Xaba; and the wider Mfolo, Xaba and Nene families who will carry her memory forever. Her love, like her faith, remains with all who knew her.
Forever loved, forever remembered, forever in our hearts.
